I* 


A  Soldier's  Son 


Soldier's  Son 


By 
MAUDE  M.  BUTLER 


DAVIS  &  BOND 

BOSTON       :       MASS. 


Copyright  1912 

by 
DAVIS  &  BOND 


DEDICATION. 

To  the  children  in  years,  and  the  children  in 
Science,  this  little  book  is  trustingly  and  lovingly 
inscribed  by  the  author. 


2125589 


NOTE. 

The  Author  wishes  to  state  that  no  case  of 
Christian  Science  healing  has  been  cited 
in  this  story  but  such  as  she  has  known 
of  a  parallel  case  in  real  life. 


'We  may  not  climb  the  heavenly  steeps 
To  bring  the  Lord  Christ  down. 

The  healing  of  the  seamless  dress 

Is  by  our  beds  of  pain; 

We  touch  Him  in  life's  throng  and  press, 

And  we  are  whole  again." 

— /.  G.  Whittier. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter 

I.    HOME  FROM  THE  WAR u 

II.     CAROL'S  LETTER 22 

III.  A  FORBIDDEN  BOOK 27 

IV.  A  WELCOME  LETTER 40 

V.    QUIET  DAYS 50 

VI.  FIRST  WORK  IN  THE  VINEYARD  ...  59 

VII.     "I  KNOW" 66 

VIII.  A  SECOND  VISIT  TO  THE    COTTAGE    .  70 

IX.     "!T  is  THE  TRUTH" 79 

X.  AN"  UNEXPECTED  ENCOUNTER  ....  86 

XL     PERCY'S  REMORSE 94 

XII.     THE  PHYSICIAN'S  VERDICT 101 

XIII.  THE  RECTOR'S  REFUSAL 109 

XIV.  " HE  GIVETH  His  BELOVED  SLEEP"     .  119 
XV.  LETTERS     AND      TELEGRAMS      REACH 

COUSIN  ALICIA 125 

XVI.     "!T  is    A  MIRACLE" 133 

XVII.  MRS.    BURTON  VISITS  CAROL     ....  142 

XVIII.    HAPPY  THOUGHTS 153 

XIX.  THE  REASON  OF  THE  DELAY   ....  158 

XX.     "LIGHT  AT  EVENTIDE" 166 

XXI.  JOYFUL  NEWS  FROM  ELOISE     ....  173 

XXII.     THE  RETURN  OF  ELOISE 181 

XXIII.  A  LONG-DELAYED  LETTER 190 

XXIV.  A  JOYFUL  SURPRISE 199 

XXV.    A  LITTLE  SERVICE 208 

XXVI.  CONCLUSION  .  216 


CHAPTER  I. 

HOME    FROM    THE    WAR. 

The  war  was  over — the  cruel,  cruel  war; 
and  Father  and  Uncle  Howard  were  on  their 
way  home.  Children's  voices,  in  every  key 
of  joy  and  thanksgiving,  sang  the  happy 
news  from  morning  to  night.  The  white, 
strained  look  faded  from  Mother's  face,  and 
she  became  her  old,  bright  self  again. 

Now  that  they  were  over,  the  children  tried 
to  forget  how  long  and  sad  and  weary  the  days 
had  been  during  which  the  sight  of  the  post- 
bag,  and  the  morning  newspaper,  almost  took 
everyone's  breath  away,  until  the  columns 
of  "War  news"  had  been  hastily  scanned 
before  taking  letters  and  papers  to  Mother's 
room. 

Then  came  the  day  when  Uncle  Howard's 
name  was  amongst  the  "seriously  wounded," 
and  there  was  a  brief  account  of  how  he  had 
saved  the  guns,  and  then  returning  into  the 
firing  line  to  pick  up  a  wounded  soldier,  had 
himself  been  dangerously  wounded. 


12  A  Soldier's  Son 

The  children  thought  of  Uncle  Howard's 
delicate  young  motherless  boy,  and  sobbed: 
"Poor,  poor  Carol." 

They  did  not  know  how  to  break  the  news 
to  Mother,  because  Uncle  Howard  was  her 
twin  brother,  and  they  all  knew  how  dearly 
she  loved  him.  Unperceived  she  had  entered 
the  room,  and  had  learned  the  news  for  her- 
self. The  days  that  followed  were  darker 
than  before,  for  it  was  not  known  for  some 
weeks  if  Major  Willmar  would  live  or  die. 
Gradually,  slightly  better  news  came,  and  he 
was  pronounced  out  of  danger.  Later  on 
it  was  announced  he  was  ordered  home,  and 
Father,  Colonel  Mandeville,  was  coming  with 
him. 

As  soon  as  the  vessel  left  Cape  Town  the 
children  began  their  happy,  joyous  prepara- 
tions for  the  welcome  home.  Then,  in  the 
midst  of  them,  when  the  triumphal  arches 
were  erected,  awaiting  only  the  final  floral 
decorations,  came  a  telegram  from  Gibraltar. 
Major  Willmar  had  suffered  a  relapse  at  sea, 
and  the  doctors  had  not  been  able  to  save  him. 
His  body  had  been  committed  to  the 
waves. 


A  Soldier's  Son  13 

Again  the  children  sobbed:  "Poor,  poor 
Carol." 

Mother  was  strangely  calm  and  quiet. 
"Carol  must  come  to  us.  We  must  take  the 
place  to  him  of  all  he  has  lost,"  she  said. 

She  wrote  to  the  lady  who  had  charge  of 
him,  asking  her  to  take  the  boy  to  meet  the 
vessel  at  Plymouth,  in  order  that  Colonel 
Mandeville  might  bring  Carol  home  with 
him. 

All  the  children,  seven  in  number,  were  at 
the  station  when  the  express  drew  up.  Edith 
and  Gwendolin,  two  tall  fair  girls  of  twelve 
and  thirteen  years;  Percy  and  Frank,  eleven 
and  ten;  then  three  of  the  dearest  little 
maidens,  Sylvia  four,  Estelle  three,  and  the 
sweet  Rosebud,  whom  Father  had  never  seen. 
She  had  come  to  cheer  Mother's  breaking 
heart  in  the  dark  days  of  the  war,  and  was  now 
two  years  old. 

It  was  an  unusual  occurrence  for  an  ex- 
press train  to  stop  at  that  quiet  country  sta- 
tion. The  porters  were  on  the  alert  to  drag 
out  the  luggage  as  quickly  as  possible.  A 
tall  bronzed  and  bearded  man  sprang  out  of 
the  train  on  the  instant  of  stopping,  so  changed 


14  A  Soldier's  Son 

that  even  the  elder  children  scarcely  recog- 
nized him. 

He  looked  at  them  with  hungry  eyes,  as  if 
he  would  take  them  all  in  his  arms  at  once, 
had  they  been  big  enough  to  go  round,  then 
seized  the  smallest  of  all,  the  little  snow-white 
maiden. 

"Iz  »ou  Daddy?"   she  asked. 

"I  am  Daddy,  my  little  white  Rosebud." 
One  by  one  he  took  each  in  his  strong  arms. 
All  looking  to  him,  no  one  noticed  the  boy 
who  had  followed  him  out  of  the  railway 
carriage,  who  was  now  looking  on  with 
wondering  eyes.  Rosebud  was  the  first  to 
speak  to  him.  "Iz  'ou  Tarol?"  she  asked. 
Stooping,  he  too  folded  his  arms  around  her, 
not  such  strong  arms  as  her  father's,  but 
very  loving.  From  that  moment  the  little 
maiden  became  one  of  the  dearest  things  in 
life  to  the  boy. 

"Where's  Mother,  children?" 

"Mother  did  not  feel  quite  able  to  come  to 
the  station,  Father.  She  bore  the  news  of 
dear  Uncle's  death  so  well  at  first;  then  she 
broke  down  entirely,  and  she  has  not  left 
her  room  since,"  Edith  told  him.  The 


A  Soldier's  Son  15 

Colonel  then  remembered  the  boy  who  had 
accompanied  him. 

"Children,  here  is  Carol." 

They  quickly  gave  him  the  loving  wel- 
come which  their  sympathetic  hearts 
prompted.  Father  suggested  sending  on  the 
carriage,  saying  to  the  children: 

"We  will  walk  through  the  park.  Oh,  the 
sweet  breath  of  the  dear  home  land,  after 
Africa's  sultry  heat!" 

Carol  kept  hold  of  Rosebud's  hand.  The 
little  maiden  was  a  revelation  to  him,  never 
having  had  little  sisters  or  brothers  of  his 
own.  His  mother  for  a  long  time  before  her 
death  had  been  a  hopeless  invalid,  and 
whilst  she  was  slowly  dying  of  consumption 
the  boy  had  developed  tubercular  disease  of 
the  left  hip,  and  the  physicians,  who  pro- 
nounced it  a  hopeless  case,  also  said  one 
lung  was  affected.  Three  years  the  boy  lay 
on  his  back  on  a  couch,  or  in  a  spinal  carriage, 
and  it  was  generally  anticipated  he  would 
quickly  follow  his  mother  to  an  early  grave. 
But  after  Mrs.  Willmar's  death  a  cousin  of 
hers  came  from  America  to  take  charge  of 
the  motherless  boy,  and  from  the  day  that 


16  A  Soldier's  Son 

she  came  he  began  to  get  better.  Now,  as 
he  walked  with  his  cousins  across  the  park, 
though  somewhat  tall  for  his  twelve  years 
and  extremely  slight  of  stature,  he  bore  no 
trace  of  his  past  sufferings. 

On  arriving  at  the  Manor,  Colonel  Mande- 
ville  went  straight  to  his  wife's  room,  mount- 
ing the  staircase  two  steps  at  a  time.  The 
children  took  Carol  to  the  school-room,  say- 
ing, "Mother  will  send  for  you  presently,  dear 
Carol." 

School-room  tea  was  ready,  and  to  their 
great  delight  the  three  little  girls,  who  be- 
longed of  course  to  the  nursery,  were  invited 
to  be  present.  Before  they  sat  down  each 
child  had  a  little  offering  to  make  Carol,  not 
a  new  gift  they  had  bought  for  him,  but  one 
of  their  own  treasures,  just  to  make  him  feel 
how  glad  they  were  to  have  him :  that  hence- 
forth he  was  to  be  their  own  dear  brother. 

It  was  all  so  strange  and  new  to  him,  he 
did  not  know  how  to  thank  them.  Rose- 
bud's offering  of  her  little  white  bunny  was 
so  perfectly  sweet.  It  became  a  treasure 
of  treasures  to  him  ever  after.  He  was 
Strangely  quiet,  but  there  seemed  no  sadness 


A  Soldier  s  Son  17 

in  his  eyes  or  voice.  His  cousins  could  not 
understand  it,  and  even  wondered  if  he  had 
loved  his  father  as  they  loved  theirs. 

Tea  was  just  finished  when  the  message 
came  for  Carol  to  go  to  Mother's  room. 
All  the  children  wanted  to  accompany  him, 
but  the  maid  who  brought  the  message  said: 
"Only  Master  Carol  was  to  go,"  and  she  led 
the  boy  to  Mrs.  Mandeville's  room. 

Carol  had  only  once  before  seen  his  aunt. 
She  had  visited  his  home  in  Devonshire 
when  his  mother  was  very  ill,  and  he  himself 
had  been  too  ill  to  care  or  notice  who  came 
and  went. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  was  lying  on  a  couch  in 
her  boudoir.  She  was  a  tall,  fair  woman,  of 
a  gentle  yielding  nature,  and  a  beautiful 
countenance.  Never  strong  or  robust,  for 
some  years  she  had  been  subject  to  attacks 
of  nervous  prostration.  The  joyous  excite- 
ment of  her  husband's  safe  return,  and  the 
grief  for  her  brother's  death,  had  brought  on 
one  of  these  attacks.  She  sobbed  aloud  as 
she  drew  Carol  into  her  arms  and  held  him 
closely  to  her. 

"My   darling  boy!" 


1 8  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Auntie,  dear,  do  not  grieve  like  this." 

"Carol,  I  loved  your  father  very,  very, 
dearly." 

"But,  Auntie,  that  should  make  you  not 
grieve  for  him.  Cousin  Alicia  has  taught  me 
to  feel  so  glad  and  happy  about  Father.  I 
could  not  cry  or  be  sorry  now.  I  love  to 
think  how  he  gave  his  life  for  that  poor, 
wounded  soldier.  Jesus  said  there  was  no 
greater  love  than  to  lay  down  one's  life  for  a 
friend,  and  it  was  not  even  a  friend;  it  was  a 
stranger.  Some  day  there  will  be  no  more 
war,  because  everyone  will  know  that  God  is 
our  Father,  and  His  name  is  Love.  But  we 
are  only  His  children  as  we  reflect  Him — re- 
flect Love.  When  everyone  understands  this, 
no  one  will  want  war." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  looked  with  surprise  at 
the  earnest  young  face,  so  calmly  confident 
of  what  he  said. 

"It  is  nice  to  see  you,  Carol,  looking  so 
well  and  strong.  You  were  very  ill  when  I 
saw  you  two  years  ago.  We  have  never  been 
able  to  understand  your  recovery.  What  a 
mistake  the  doctors  must  have  made  about 
your  case." 


A  Soldier's  Son  19 

"Auntie,  they  did  not  make  a  mistake. 
It  was  Cousin  Alicia  who  taught  me  about 
Christian  Science.  Then  I  began  to  get 
well,  and  I  soon  lost  the  dreadful  pain  in  my 
hip." 

"Carol,  dear,  never  mention  a  word  about 
Christian  Science  before  your  Uncle  Ray- 
mond. He  says  it  is  dreadful  heresy,  and  it 
makes  him  so  angry  to  hear  it  talked  about. 
Did  he  meet  you  at  the  station  ? " 

"No,  Auntie.     I  have  not  seen  him  yet." 

"He  said  he  would  meet  the  train  but  he 
generally  manages  to  get  too  late.  He  will 
be  here  this  evening  for  dinner." 

Uncle  Raymond  was  Mrs.  Mandeville's 
brother,  and  the  rector  of  the  parish. 

"But,  Auntie,  if  he  asks  anything  about  my 
illness  I  must  tell  him  what  has  made  me 
well." 

"I  do  not  think  he  will,  dear;  so  there  will 
be  no  need  to  say  anything.  It  is  very  beau- 
tiful, Carol,  for  you  to  think  Christian  Science 
has  healed  you,  and  there  is  no  need  for  your 
faith  to  be  shaken." 

"I  do  not  think,  Auntie,  I  know,  so  that  no 
one  could  shake  my  faith." 


2O  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Well,  dear,  we  won't  talk  about  it.  Tell 
me,  did  you  have  a  pleasant  journey?" 

"Yes,  Auntie,  a  very  pleasant  journey; 
Uncle  was  so  kind  to  me." 

"I  am  sure  he  would  be,  Carol.  You  are 
glad  to  come  to  us,  darling — to  be  our  own 
dear  son?  You  will  feel  this  is  home,  and 
your  cousins  not  cousins,  but  brothers  and 
sisters?" 

"Yes,  Auntie.  I  know  my  father  wished 
me  to  come  to  you — but — I  am  sorry  to  leave 
Cousin  Alicia.  I  love  her  so  much." 

"Of  course,  darling,  that  is  only  natural. 
She  has  been  quite  a  mother  to  you  since 
your  own  dear  mother  died." 

Carol  did  not  speak;  a  choking  sensation 
of  pain  prevented  him.  He  knew  that  Cousin 
Alicia  had  been  more  than  a  mother  to  him. 

"May  I  write  to  her  to-night,  Auntie? 
She  will  like  to  hear  from  me." 

"Of  course,  dear.  Write  to  her  as  often  as 
you  like." 

"I  think  that  will  be  every  day  then," 
the  boy  said  promptly,  with  a  smile.  Mrs. 
Mandeville  smiled  too. 

"Dear  boy,  how  you  have  comforted  me. 


A  Soldier's  Son  21 

I  feel  so  much  better  for  this  little  talk  with 
you.  Perhaps  I  shall  be  able  to  surprise 
everybody,  and  go  down  to  dinner  this  even- 
ing." 

"Oh,  Auntie,  please  do.  At  tea  Edith 
said,  'It  would  be  just  lovely  if  only  Mother 
could  come  down  to  dinner/  We  can  nearly 
always  do  what  we  want  to  do,  Auntie." 

"Can  we,  dear?  Then  go  and  write  your 
letter  now,  and  do  not  mention  to  anyone 
that  I  am  going  to  try  to  surprise  them  this 
evening." 


CHAPTER  II. 
CAROL'S  LETTER. 

"MANOR  HOUSE 

MANDEVILLE. 
"Dear  Cousin  Alicia, 

"It  seemed  such  a  long  journey  before  we 
arrived  here.  Uncle  was  so  kind  and  told  me 
about  the  different  places  as  we  passed 
through.  But  I  felt  I  was  getting  such  a  long 
way  from  you,  as  we  passed  town  after  town. 
All  my  cousins  were  at  the  station  to  meet 
us;  but  Auntie  was  not  well  enough  to  be 
there.  I  should  like  to  describe  them  all  to 
you,  but  I  am  sure  I  could  not.  They  are 
ever  so  much  nicer  than  any  of  the  children 
I  have  read  about  in  books.  I  will  only  tell 
you  their  names.  Perhaps  you  will  see  them 
all  some  day.  Edith,  Gwendolin,  Percy, 
and  Frank,  in  the  school-room;  and  in  the 
nursery,  Sylvia,  Estelle,  and  Rosebud.  Uncle 
had  never  seen  Rosebud.  She  is  two  years 
and  three  months  old,  and  is  the  sweetest 

22 


A  Soldier's  Son  23 

little  girl.     She  has  such  pretty  ways.     I  do 
love  to  hear  her  talk. 

"We  walked  from  the  station  through  the 
park.  Uncle  seemed  so  glad  to  see  his  own 
home  again.  The  Manor  House  is  very 
old;  such  quaint  little  oriel  windows,  and 
turrets,  and  gables.  I  have  not  learned  my 
way  about  yet,  but  the  school-room  and 
nurseries  are  quite  close  together.  It  was 
returning  from  Auntie's  boudoir  to  the  school- 
room I  got  lost,  and  I  found  myself  in  quite 
a  different  part  of  the  house.  I  opened  a 
door  I  thought  was  the  school-room,  and  it 
was  the  housekeeper's  room.  Then  a  maid 
took  me  to  the  school-room.  Percy  and 
Frank  thought  it  very  amusing,  and  said 
they  could  find  their  way  anywhere  blind- 
fold, and  Rosebud  said  'Me  tome  wiff  'ou, 
Tarol.'  I  didn't  see  Auntie  until  after  tea. 
We  all  had  tea  together  in  the  school-room, 
the  nursery  children  as  well.  The  governess 
invited  them.  Her  name  is  Miss  Markham, 
she  is  very  strict,  but  I  think  she  is  kind  too. 
I  am  thinking  all  the  time  of  the  history  of 
England  when  she  speaks,  and  wondering 
what  part  of  it  she  belongs  to.  The  elder 


24  A  Soldier's  Son 

children   are  going  down  to  dinner,  as   it  is 
Uncle's  first  evening  at  home. 

"Auntie  was  lying  on  a  couch  when  I 
was  taken  to  her  room.  She  seemed  so  full 
of  grief  and  sadness.  She  wept  when  she  held 
her  arms  around  me.  But  I  just  knew  that 
Love  is  everywhere,  and  sorrow  and  sadness 
cannot  be  where  Love  is.  In  a  little  while 
she  was  quite  different,  and  even  smiled  as 
she  talked  to  me.  She  said  I  had  comforted 
her  so.  I  would  have  liked  to  explain  to  her 
what  had  comforted  her,  but  she  does  not 
like  me  to  say  anything  about  Christian 
Science,  and  asked  me  not  to  mention  it 
before  Uncle  Raymond,  because  it  makes 
him  angry.  Auntie  thinks  I  could  not  have 
been  so  ill  as  the  doctors  thought,  or  I  should 
not  be  quite  well  and  strong  now.  Please 
tell  me,  dear  Cousin,  will  it  be  denying 
Christ,  if  I  do  not  tell  people  what  healed 
me?  I  did  so  wish  I  could  have  told  Auntie 
some  of  the  beautiful  things  you  have  taught 
me.  Will  you  write  to  me  very  often,  please? 
I  am  going  to  write  nearly  every  day  to  you. 
Auntie  says  I  may — as  often  as  I  like.  I 
have  such  a  dear  little  room  all  to  myself,  so 


A  Soldier's  Son  25 

I  shall  be  able  to  do  the  Lesson-Sermon  every 
morning  before  breakfast.  Thank  you  again 
for  giving  me  Science  and  Health  for  my 
very  own,  and  the  Bible  which  was  my 
mother's.  I  want  to  study  both  books  so 
well  that  when  I  am  a  man  I  shall  know  them 
better  than  anything  else  in  the  world.  I 
am  to  study  with  Edith  and  Gwendolin  for 
the  present.  Frank  and  Percy  go  to  a  large 
public  school  at  H — .  I  am  to  go  with  them 
when  Uncle  is  quite  sure  I  am  strong  enough. 
He  does  not  understand  that  I  am  perfectly 
well  and  strong.  I  must  leave  off  now.  I 
have  to  put  on  my  Eton  suit  for  dinner.  I 
do  not  feel  so  far  away  from  you  as  when  I 
was  in  the  train.  It  is  just  as  if  you  were  in 
the  room  with  me.  I  can  feel  your  thoughts 
like  loving  arms  around  me. 

"Dear  Cousin  Alicia 

"Your  loving  Carol. 

"P.S.  Bed-time.  The  post-bag  had  gone 
when  I  had  finished  my  letter.  I  just  want 
to  tell  you,  Auntie  came  down  to  dinner. 
Every  one  was  so  surprised  and  delighted  and 
we  had  such  a  happy  evening.  Uncle  played 


26  A  Soldier's  Son 

games  with  us  after  dinner,  and  Auntie 
looked  on.  The  time  went  so  quickly,  we 
were  sorry  when  Uncle  said:  'Bed-time, 
children.  To  your  tents:  double  quick 
march.'  So  we  all  had  to  scamper  away. 
Uncle  Raymond  came  to  dinner.  He  is  so 
grave  and  stern,  so  different  from  Father. 
He  went  into  the  study  whilst  Uncle  was 
playing  with  us." 


CHAPTER  III. 

A    FORBIDDEN    BOOK. 

Carol  had  always  been  a  lonely  boy.  The 
companionship  of  other  children  was  a  pleas- 
ure he  had  never  known.  In  the  remote 
Devonshire  village,  where  all  the  years  of  his 
young  life  had  been  spent,  there  were  no 
children  who  could  be  invited  to  his  home  as 
friends  and  companions  for  him.  First  his 
mother's  delicate  health,  and  then  his  own, 
had  prevented  visits  to  or  from  his  cousins. 
When  he  was  seven  years  old  a  fall  from  his 
pony  caused  an  injury  to  his  hip,  which 
eventually  developed  into  what  the  doctors 
diagnosed  as  tubercular  disease  of  the  hip 
bone.  For  three  years  his  mother  had  been 
slowly  dying  of  consumption,  and  the  boy 
had  been  the  joy  and  brightness  of  her  life. 
She  did  not  live  long  after  she  was  told  that 
what  she  was  suffering  from  he  would  suffer, 
too,  in  another  form.  She  died  about  six 
months  before  the  war  broke  out  in  South 

27 


28  A  Soldier's  Son 

Africa,  and  fulfilling  a  promise  made  some 
time  before,  a  favorite  cousin,  then  resident 
in  America,  whose  girlhood  had  been  spent 
with  her  as  a  sister,  came  to  take  charge  of 
the  household  and  the  young  motherless  in- 
valid. Major  Willmar  was  ordered  to  the 
front  shortly  after  operations  commenced, 
but  before  he  went  he  had  hopes  that  his 
boy  would  grow  well  and  strong.  There  had 
been  such  a  marked  change  in  him  from  the 
day  Cousin  Alicia  arrived,  bringing  to  that 
saddened  home  love  and — Truth. 

It  can,  therefore,  be  easily  understood  that 
the  first  few  days  at  the  Manor  were  to  Carol 
days  almost  of  bewilderment.  As  soon  as 
his  cousins  found  that  their  joy  in  having 
Father  back  again,  safe  and  sound,  did  not 
hurt  Carol,  nothing  restrained  their  wild  ex- 
uberance of  spirits.  They  could  not  under- 
stand the  gentle,  reserved  boy,  *who  spoke 
with  so  much  love  and  tenderness  of  his 
father,  yet  had  no  tears  or  sadness  because 
he  would  return  no  more. 

"Perhaps  he  doesn't  quite  understand," 
said  Gwendolin. 


A  Soldier's  Son  29 

"I  think  he  does,"  said  Edith,  "and  I  am 
sure  he  loved  Uncle  as  much  as  we  love 
Father.  There  is  such  a  far-away  look  in  his 
eyes,  when  he  speaks  of  his  father  and  mother, 
just  as  if  he  were  looking  at  something  we 
cannot  see.  Although  he  is  so  gentle  and 
kind,  especially  to  the  little  ones,  I  am  sure 
no  one  could  persuade  him  to  do  anything 
he  thought  wrong.  He  is  a  dear  boy.  I  am 
glad  he  is  going  to  study  with  us  for  the 
present,  because  the  boys  at  school  would  not 
understand  him.  Even  Percy  and  Frank 
are  inclined  to  mistake  his  gentleness  for 
weakness.  Yet  I  could  imagine  him  standing 
and  facing  any  real  danger,  when  most  boys 
would  run  away." 

From  the  first  Edith  had  conceived  a  great 
affection  for  her  Cousin  Carol,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, she  understood  him  better.  On 
many  occasions  she  was  able  to  help  him, 
when  Percy  and  Frank  were  somewhat 
brusque  and  impatient  in  their  treatment 
of  him.  They  could  not  understand  his 
reluctance  to  join  in  some  of  their  games. 
He  loved  to  look  on;  but  everything  was 
new  and  strange  to  him.  He  had  never  been 


3O  A  Soldier's  Son 

used  to  playing  the  games  which  were  so  much 
to  Frank  and  Percy.  Edith  then  quietly 
explained  to  her  less  thoughtful  brothers  that 
they  should  not  expect  a  boy  who  had  spent 
three  years  on  an  invalid's  couch  to  be  able 
to  play  the  games  in  which  they  were  so  pro- 
ficient. 

Carol  was  often  in  the  nursery,  Nurse  was 
so  big  and  motherly.  She  had  welcomed  him, 
as  if  he  had  been  one  of  her  own  children  from 
the  first.  It  was  a  fixed  idea  amongst  the 
children  that  as  long  as  there  had  been  a 
Manor  House,  Nurse  had  presided  over  the 
nursery.  She  was  always  ready  to  tell  them 
stories  of  their  father  and  uncles  and  aunts 
in  the  old  days.  She  even  had  tales  of  their 
grandfather,  and  many  past  generations  of 
Mandevilles,  and  in  all  the  stories,  of  how- 
ever long  ago,  they  imagined  Nurse  playing 
part.  One  thing  they  never  could  imagine: 
that  was  the  Manor  House  without  her. 

When  the  little  girls  wanted  him,  and  that 
was  very  frequently,  Carol  was  always  ready 
to  go  to  the  nursery,  and  often  accompanied 
them  on  their  walks.  Percy  and  Frank 


A  Soldier's  Son  31 

considered  it  much  beneath  their  dignity  to 
take  a  walk  "with  the  babies." 

The  improvement  in  Mrs.  Mandeville's 
health,  which  had  commenced  on  Carol's 
first  visit  to  her  room,  continued.  In  a  few 
days  she  had  taken  her  usual  place  in  the 
household,  and  the  children  rejoiced  in  the 
nightly  visits  to  their  bedrooms.  How  glad 
they  were  when  there  were  no  visitors  down- 
stairs, and  they  could  keep  her  quite  a  long 
time. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  her  first  visit  to 
Carol's  room,  she  found  him  sitting  up  in 
bed,  reading.  She  had  expected  to  find  him 
asleep,  as  the  other  children  had  detained 
her  so  long. 

"My  little  book-worm,  what  is  the  story 
you  find  so  interesting?"  she  asked  play- 
fully, intending  to  tell  him  lovingly  the  next 
morning  that  she  did  not  like  the  children 
to  read  in  bed. 

"Auntie,  it  isn't  a  story  book.  It  is 
Science  and  Health.  I  read  it  every  night 
and  morning." 

"What  a  very  strange  book  for  a  little  boy 


32  A  Soldier's  Son 

to  be  interested  in!  The  title  sounds  quite 
alarmingly  dry." 

"Oh,  Auntie,  have  you  never  heard  of  it? 
It  is  such  a  wonderful  book.  I  am  beginning 
to  understand  it  now.  At  first  I  could  not, 
but  Cousin  Alicia  used  to  explain  it  so  beau- 
tifully to  me,  and  now  I  love  to  read 
it." 

"I  cannot  say  I  remember  the  title,  dear, 
but  I  should  like  to  look  into  it.  Will  you 
spare  it  to  me  this  evening?  I  think  it  is 
time  now  for  lights  to  be  extinguished." 

Carol  gave  the  book  to  her  gladly,  little 
thinking  it  would  be  many  long  days  before 
he  would  see  it  again. 

When  Mrs.  Mandeville  returned  to  the 
drawing-room,  the  Rector  was  there.  "Do 
you  know  anything  of  this  book,  Raymond?" 
she  asked,  giving  it  into  his  hand.  "I  found 
Carol  reading  it  in  bed — Science  and  Health" 
The  frown  which  was  habitually  on  the 
Rector's  face  deepened. 

"Indeed  I  do,"  he  said,  "and  I  should  like 
to  do  with  every  copy  what  I  am  going  to  do 
with  this." 

He  walked  over  to  the  fireplace;    his  in- 


A  Soldier's  Son  33 

tentions  were  plain.  Mrs.  Mandeville  caught 
hold  of  his  arm. 

"No,  no,  Raymond,  you  must  not.  The 
book  was  a  present  from  Miss  Desmond  to 
Carol,  and  you  have  no  right  to  destroy  it, 
however  strongly  you  may  disapprove  of 
his  reading  it." 

"I  do  more  than  disapprove.  I  absolutely 
forbid  him  to  read  any  more  of  it;  the 
most  unorthodox  rubbish  that  has  been 
published  for  centuries.  The  worst  of  it 
is,  it  has  taken  hold  of  some  people, 
especially  women,  and  they  are  carried  away 
by  it."  ' 

The  Rector  slipped  the  little  book  into  his 
pocket.  As  he  had  not  destroyed  it,  he  meant 
to  make  sure  there  should  be  no  chance  of  its 
falling  again  into  Carol's  hands.  He,  as  well 
as  Mrs.  Mandeville,  was  the  boy's  legal 
guardian. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  was  sorry.  She  felt  sure 
from  the  way  Carol  had  spoken  that  the  book 
was  precious  to  him.  Very  gently,  the  next 
morning,  she  told  him  of  his  uncle's  decision. 
She  noted  the  quivering  lips;  the  tears  he 
was  bravely  trying  not  to  shed. 


34  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Dear  boy,  did  you  value  it  so  much?" 
she  said. 

"Oh,  Auntie!"  The  simple  exclamation 
expressed  more  pain  and  regret  than  many 
words  could  have  done. 

"Darling,  I  am  sorry;  but  we  must  believe 
that  Uncle  Raymond  has  good  reasons  for 
taking  the  book  away.  He  says  it  is  fearful 
heresy.  You  must  not  forget  that  your  dear 
grandfather  was  a  bishop,  also  your  great- 
grandfather. I  could  not  tell  you  during 
how  many  generations  there  has  always 
been  at  least  one  member  of  our  family  a 
dignitary  of  the  Church." 

"What  does  unorthodox  mean,  Auntie?" 

"It  means  contrary  to,  or  opposed  to  the 
teachings  of  our  beloved  church.  Your  dear 
father  and  mother  were  both  good  church 
people." 

"Yes,  Auntie;  but  that  did  not  make 
Mummie  better  when  she  was  so  ill.  The 
vicar  often  used  to  sit  with  her,  and  pray 
for  her  in  church,  but  she  was  never  better 
for  it.  When  Cousin  Alicia  came  and  I  was 
so  ill,  I  began  at  once  to  get  better.  That 
little  book,  Science  and  Health,  had  taught 


A  Soldier's  Son  35 

her  to  understand  the  Bible,  and  God  an- 
swered her  prayers  for  me!" 

"It  was  certainly  a  remarkable  coinci- 
dence— your  improving  so  quickly  after  Miss 
Desmond  came;  but  it  may  have  been  the 
result  of  some  fresh  medicine  the  doctor 
was  trying." 

"Auntie,  I  was  not  taking  any  medicine. 
The  first  night  Cousin  Alicia  came  I  slept 
till  morning,  and  the  next  day  I  wanted  some- 
thing to  eat.  The  nurses  thought  it  was 
wonderful,  because  they  had  had  such  diffi- 
culty to  get  me  to  eat  before.  Then  when 
they  dressed  the  wounds  on  my  hip  every 
morning  I  used  to  scream  so,  some  of  the 
servants  went  where  they  could  not  hear 
me.  In  only  one  week  I  lost  all  the  pain  and 
I  did  not  cry  at  all,  and  very  soon  one  by 
one  the  wounds  healed." 

"It  was  very  remarkable,  dear.  But  do 
you  associate  your  healing  with  the  book 
which  Uncle  Raymond  has  taken  away?" 

"Why,  Auntie,  Science  and  Health  is  the 
Key  to  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  is  the  'tree 
whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  na- 
tions.' But  people  have  not  understood 


36  A  Soldier's  Son 

until  they  had  that  Key  how  to  go  to  the 
Bible  for  healing.  Cousin  Alicia  understood; 
that  was  why  she  was  able  to  heal 


me." 


"What  you  say  seems  very  strange,  Carol. 
If  Uncle  had  not  taken  the  book  away,  I 
should  have  liked  to  look  into  it.  I  expect 
he  would  refuse  if  I  asked  him  to  let  me 
read  it." 

It  did  not  occur  to  Mrs.  Mandeville  that 
she  could  obtain  another  copy  of  the  book. 
The  confiscated  copy  was  not  the  only  one  to 
be  had.  Her  conversation  with  Carol  was 
interrupted  just  then.  The  same  night  when 
she  went,  as  the  evening  before,  to  his  bed- 
room, she  found  him  sitting  up  in  bed.  He 
greeted  her  eagerly  with  the  words: 

"Auntie,  I  have  been  thinking." 

"Dear  boy,  what  have  you  been  thinking?" 
She  kissed  the  earnest,  upturned  face,  and 
realized  for  the  first  time  that  he  had  a  very 
beautiful  countenance,  so  like,  she  thought, 
one  of  Murillo's  child  angels. 

"I  have  been  thinking,  Auntie,  of  what 
you  said  about  unorthodox.  A  good  many 
years  ago  when  Protestants  were  called 


A  Soldier's  Son  37 

heretics,  they  were  unorthodox  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  were  they  not?" 

"Certainly,  dear." 

"But  Protestants  are  not  called  heretics 
now,  are  they?" 

"I  think  we  never  hear  them  so  spoken 
of  now,  dear,  because  there  are  more  Protest- 
ants in  England  than  Roman  Catholics." 

"Then,  Auntie,  when  there  are  more  Chris- 
tian Scientists  than  other  church  people, 
they  won't  be  called  heretics." 

"Will  that  ever  be?"  Mrs.  Mandeville 
asked  with  a  smile. 

"Yes,  Auntie;  it  must  be,  because  Chris- 
tian Scientists  obey  Jesus.  All  that  he  said 
and  commanded  in  the  New  Testament, 
they  try  to  carry  out.  He  commanded  his 
disciples  to  heal  the  sick." 

"His  disciples  of  that  day,  dear." 

"But,  Auntie,  didn't  he  say:  'What  I 
say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all.'  If  we  love  him 
we  shall  keep  all  his  commandments.  That 
is  why  I  am  sorry  Uncle  Raymond  has  taken 
away  my  Science  and  Health.  I  want  to 
understand  it  like  Cousin  Alicia  does;  then 
some  day,  if  I  know  little  boys  or  girls  ill 


38  A  Soldier's  Son 

like  I  was,  I  could  heal  them.  It  makes  me 
so  sorry  now  that  I  cannot  study.  I  have 
written  to  Cousin  Alicia  to  help  me.  I 
know  she  will.  It  has  been  so  difficult  all 
day  to  stand  *  porter  at  the  door  of  thought.' 
Such  a  lot  of  unkind  thoughts  would  keep 
trying  to  get  in.  I  know  I  must  not  let  any 
of  them  in,  and  Cousin  Alicia  will  help  me  to 
keep  them  out." 

"I  am  afraid  I  do  not  quite  understand, 
Carol." 

"Don't  you,  Auntie?  I  have  a  little  book 
that  will  explain.  It  is  called  'At  the  Door.' 
Our  mind  is  like  a  beautiful  white  mansion, 
and  thoughts  are  like  people  who  go  in  and 
out.  If  we  let  unkind  thoughts  pass  in,  all 
kind  thoughts  go  away.  Self-pity  isn't  at 
all  a  nice  person,  I  have  had  such  difficulty 
to  keep  him  out  all  day,  especially  when  I 
remembered  that  Father  knew  I  was  studying 
Science  and  Health,  and  he  did  not  take  it 
away  from  me." 

"I  will  tell  that  to  Uncle  Raymond,  dear, 
perhaps  it  will  cause  him  to  alter  his  decision." 

"Thank  you,  Auntie;  I  know  it  will  be  all 
right.  I  have  only  to  be  patient.  They 


A  Soldier 's  Son  39 

have  all  gone  away  now,  self-pity  and  in- 
dignation, and  anger.  If  I  keep  my  mansion 
so  full  of  love,  there  will  be  no  room  for  them 
to  squeeze  in,  will  there?" 

"No,   darling.     Now  go  to  sleep.     I   will 
take  the  little  book  down  with  me  and  read 


it." 


Mrs.  Mandeville  remembered  as  she  went 
downstairs  her  visit  three  years  ago  to 
Carol's  home.  Then  she  would  have  de- 
scribed him  *as  a  very  spoilt  child,  making 
allowance  for  his  illness,  he  was  fretful,  selfish, 
exacting.  What  had  wrought  such  a  marvel- 
lous change?  The  physical  healing  seemed 
slight  in  comparison. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A    WELCOME    LETTER. 

Carol  had  been  at  the  Manor  a  week  before 
he  received  the  eagerly  expected  letter  from 
Cousin  Alicia.  Mrs.  Mandeville  brought  it 
herself  to  the  school-room,  for  him. 

"What  a  lucky  little  boy  to  get  such  a  fat 
letter!  I  wonder  the  post-office  didn't  de- 
cline to  bring  it  for  a  penny,"  she  said  smiling 
at  his  radiantly  happy  face.  Then  turning 
to  Miss  Markham,  as  lessons  were  about  to 
commence,  she  asked: 

"May  he  be  excused  for  a  little  time,  Miss 
Markham?  I  know  he  will  like  to  take  it  to 
his  room  and  read  it  quietly  there." 

"Oh,  thank  you,  Auntie;  thank  you,  Miss 
Markham,"  as  the  asked-for  permission  was 
quickly  accorded,  and  he  ran  off  with  the 
treasured  letter.  Half  an  hour  later  he  sought 
Mrs.  Mandeville  in  her  morning-room. 

"Auntie,    would    you    like    to    read    my 
letter?" 
40 


A  Soldier's  Son  41 

"Indeed,  dear,  I  should,  if  you  would  care 
for  me  to." 

"Yes,  Auntie.  I  would  like  you  to  read  it 
very  much.  I  knew  Cousin  Alicia  would 
help  me  to  understand.  It  has  been  just 
like  having  a  talk  with  her.  She  always  makes 
me  feel  happy." 

He  gave  several  sheets  of  closely  written 
note  paper  into  Mrs.  Mandeville's  hand. 

"  I  must  not  be  away  any  more  lesson  time, 
must  I?" 

He  left  the  letter  with  her,  and  returned  to 
the  school-room.  Mrs.  Mandeville  opened 
the  pages,  and  read: 

"WlLLMAR    COURT, 

S.  DEVON. 
"My  very  dear  Carol, 

"Until  your  first  letter  arrived  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  realize  that  the  train  had  carried  you 
so  far  away  from  us.  It  seemed  as  if  a  spirit 
of  sadness  were  creeping  over  the  household, 
even  the  dogs  and  birds  felt  the  subtle  in- 
fluence, and  I  had  to  dispel  it  by  realizing 
that  there  can  be  no  separation  in  Mind. 
Nothing  can  come  between  loving  thoughts. 
I  am  as  near  to  you  in  thought,  and  you  to 


42  A  Soldier's  Son 

me  as  if  these  human  arms  enfolded  you. 
It  rejoiced  me  to  read  that  you  felt  my 
thoughts  like  loving  arms  around  you. 

"Your  first  letter  was  awaited  with  eager 
expectation.  I  had  to  read  parts  to  every- 
one. When  Bob  brought  up  your  pony  for 
his  morning  lump  of  sugar,  I  caught  him 
brushing  a  tear  away  with  his  coat  sleeve,  as 
he  asked,  'Will  it  be  long  before  Master 
Carol  comes  home  again?'  I  told  him  that 
was  a  question  I  could  not  answer,  but  pos- 
sibly you  might  have  the  pony  sent  to  Mande- 
ville,  and  in  that  case  he  would  no  doubt 
accompany  it. 

"The  bright  happy  strain  of  your  first 
letter  made  me  glad.  Before  I  had  time  to 
answer  it  came  the  second  in  a  minor  key. 
After  reading  it,  a  thought  that  something 
was  wrong  tried  hard  to  creep  in.  But  I 
knew  it  could  not  be.  'Love  governs  and 
controls  all  events  with  unerring  wisdom.' 
So  I  just  took  my  hat  and  went  for  our 
favorite  walk  by  the  stream,  to  think  things 
out.  I  seemed  to  feel  your  little  hand  in 
mine  as  I  walked.  I  sat  down  on  the  old  tree- 
stump,  where  you  used  to  rest  when  you  first 


A  Soldier's  Son  43 

began  to  walk;  and  do  you  remember  the 
thrush  which  was  always  singing  on  the  other 
side  of  the  stream,  how  we  used  to  think  he 
sang  a  special  song  for  you,  and  the  words 
were,  'God  is  Love'?  He  was  there  on  the 
same  branch  of  the  tree.  I  feel  so  sure  now 
that  it  is  the  same  bird.  'What  message 
have  you  for  Carol  this  morning?'  I  asked, 
and  it  seemed  that  the  notes  changed  and  the 
message  came  so  clearly:  'All  is  right  that 
seems  most  wrong.' 

"Yes!  I  knew  it!  Of  course  it  is!  The 
bird  flew  off,  and  I  walked  on,  thinking  of  a 
story  I  read  many  years  ago.  It  was,  I  be- 
lieve, an  Eastern  allegory.  That  story  has 
often  helped  me;  perhaps  it  will  help  you.  I 
will  tell  it  briefly.  The  King  of  a  great  coun- 
try had  many  singing  birds.  They  were  to 
him  as  children,  he  loved  them  so.  They 
were  quite  free  to  fly  about  the  palace,  or  in 
the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  palace,  and  when 
the  King  walked  amongst  them,  they  rested 
on  his  shoulder,  or  on  his  hand,  when  he  held 
it  out  to  them.  There  was  one  especial 
favorite — a  little  brown  bird.  It  had  not 
gay  plumage  like  some  of  its  companions, 


44  A  Soldier's  Son 

but  its  song  delighted  the  King,  and  often  he 
said:  'Sing — sing  always.'  One  day  the  ser- 
vants discovered  the  little  brown  bird  was 
missing.  Some  one  had  stolen  it  from  the 
palace.  Word  was  brought  to  the  King,  and 
he  quickly  sent  messengers  all  over  his  king- 
dom to  discover  where  the  bird  was.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  place  of  confinement 
was  known,  and,  to  the  surprise  of  everyone, 
the  King  left  his  little  favorite  in  captivity. 
But  he  strictly  commanded  his  messengers 
to  watch  over  it,  that  no  harm  could 
come  to  it.  Not  a  feather  was  to  be 
ruffled. 

"In  partial  darkness,  beating  its  wings 
helplessly  against  the  bars  of  the  cage,  the 
little  brown  bird  yet  remembered  the  King's 
command,  'Sing,  sing  always';  and  every 
day  it  poured  forth  the  song  which  the  King 
loved.  Strangers  came  from  far  to  listen  to 
the  wondrous  song  of  the  little  captive  bird. 
Then,  one  day,  the  little  bird  looked  up  joy- 
fully, at  the  sound  of  a  well-known  voice. 
The  King  himself  had  come  to  set  the  captive 
free.  The  cage  door  was  quickly  opened, 
and  the  bird  flew  forth,  and  rested  on  the 


A  Soldier's  Son  .  45 

King's  shoulder,  pouring  forth  such  a  song  of 
joy  as  no  one  had  ever  heard  before. 

"'My  priceless  treasure!'  the  King  ex- 
claimed— the  one  note  that  was  missing 
has  come  into  your  song.'  And  great  was  the 
King's  joy  as  he  carried  the  little  brown  bird 
back  to  his  palace. 

"I  remember,  when  I  read  that  story  as  a 
girl,  being  sorry  that  it  ended  there.  I  wanted 
to  know  that  the  wicked  men  were  punished 
for  stealing  the  bird,  and  that  it  was  never 
separated  again  from  the  King  who  loved 
it  so.  But  now  I  understand  the  story  better, 
and  the  lesson  it  teaches.  If  the  little  bird 
had  not  been  obedient  to  the  King's  com- 
mand to  sing  always, — even  when  it  was  in 
captivity,  it  would  never  have  learned  that 
one  missing  note.  And  so,  dear  Carol,  we 
have  to  learn  under  all  circumstances  and  at 
all  times  that  we  are  bidden  to  rejoice.  The 
words  are:  'Rejoice — again  I  say  rejoice.' 

"Having  the  book  taken  from  you,  as  you 
do  not  yet  understand  the  antagonism  so 
many  people  manifest  towards  it,  was  doubt- 
less a  great  surprise,  when  you  owe  so  much  to 
its  teachings.  But,  dearie,  you  must  not  let 


46  A  Soldier's  Son 

any  thoughts  of  injustice,  or  of  something 
not  quite  right,  creep  in.  The  book  will  be 
returned  to  you  one  day.  Love  can  always 
find  a  way.  It  will  not  be  detained  one  mo- 
ment after  it  is  needful  for  you  to  have  it 
again.  You  must  put  in  practice,  live  up  to, 
what  you  have  already  learned.  You  have 
only  one  step  to  take  at  present,  and  I  think 
that  step  is  'obedience':  cheerful,  willing  obedi- 
ence, in  every  detail  of  your  life.  You  see, 
dear  Carol,  we  are  told  only  one  thing  of  the 
Master  when  he  was  a  boy  of  your  age:  that 
is,  'He  was  subject  [obedient]  unto  them.' 
Had  it  been  necessary,  we  should  have  been 
told  more.  So  from  you,  and  all  children, 
looking  unto  Jesus,  to  follow  in  his  steps, 
one  thing  only  is  required — perfect  obedi- 
ence to  those  in  authority  over  you,  parents 
or  guardians. 

"Try  to  picture  that  humble  home  at 
Nazareth,  and  the  carpenter's  shop.  We 
can  never  know  the  trials  he  had  to  bear  in 
those  early  years,  through  those  around  him 
not  comprehending  his  divine  mission.  From 
one  verse  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  we  learn 
that  taunts  and  gibes  were  thrown  at  him, 


A  Soldier's  Son  47 

because  his  spiritual  birth  was  not  under- 
stood. Yet  those  words  have  come  down 
through  all  the  centuries  to  inspire  and  help 
the  young  of  all  generations:  He  was  subject 
unto  them. 

"The  world  has  given  an  undue  prominence 
to  the  wooden  crucifix.  The  cross  that  Jesus 
carried  for  us  he  carried  for  33  long  years — 
working  out  each  problem  of  life,  and  finally 
overcoming  death,  in  order  to  show  us  the 
way  to  eternal  life,  then  bidding  us  take 
up  the  cross — not  the  wooden  crucifix — the 
cross  of  daily  overcoming  error  with  truth;  and 
thus  to  follow  him. 

"When  you  are  asked  anything  about 
Christian  Science,  and  your  own  healing,  if 
you  are  able,  answer  any  questions  quietly 
and  courteously,  but  never  obtrude  the  sub- 
ject on  anyone;  or  bring  it  forward  volun- 
tarily. Live  Christian  Science,  dear  Carol, 
not  talk  it.  Be  careful  in  all  things  to  study 
your  aunt's  wishes;  and  as  she  evidently 
does  not  wish  the  subject  mentioned  to  your 
cousins,  do  not  mention  it.  Following  in  the 
steps  that  Jesus  marked — perfect  obedience — 
can  never  be  denying  Christ,  and  by  perfect 


48  A  Soldier's  Son 

obedience,  dear,  you  will  understand,  loving, 
willing,  cheerful  obedience,  never  allowing 
any  thought  of  wrong  or  injustice  to  find  a 
resting  place  in  your  consciousness. 

"Write  to  me  as  often  as  you  can,  dear. 
Now  that  you  have  commenced  regular 
lessons,  you  will  not  have  so  much  spare 
time.  Your  letters  will  always  be  to  me  a 
joy,  both  to  receive  and  to  answer.  I  re- 
joice in  my  stewardship,  taking  care  of  this 
beautiful  home  for  my  dear  boy.  Colonel 
Mandeville  wrote  me  that  your  dear  father 
expressed  his  desire  at  the  last  that  it  should 
be  so;  and  he  himself  also  wrote  a  letter  which 
was  posted  at  Gibraltar.  It  had  not  yet 
reached  me.  I  cannot  understand  it,  as  the 
letter  from  Colonel  Mandeville  which  was 
evidently  posted  at  the  same  time,  bearing 
the  Gibraltar  post-mark,  arrived,  as  you 
know,  before  you  left.  But  we  know  it  cannot 
be  lost,  although  it  is  long  over-due. 

"Please  convey  my  kind  regards  to  Colo- 
nel and  Mrs.  Mandeville,  and  to  yourself, 
dear  Carol,  unnumbered  loving  thoughts, 
from 

COUSIN  ALICIA. 


A  Soldier's  Son  49 

"P.S.     How  I  should  like  to  see  the  sweet 
Rosebud  and  your  other  cousins!" 


A  very  grave,  thoughtful  expression  deep- 
ened on  Mrs.  Mandeville's  face  as  she  gathered 
the  loose  sheets  of  note  paper  together,  and 
replaced  them  in  the  envelope.  "Surely," 
she  said,  sotto  voce,  "if  this  is  what  Christian 
Science  teaches,  Raymond  does  not  under- 
stand the  book  which  he  has  taken  away  from 
Carol." 


CHAPTER  V. 

QUIET   DAYS. 

The  days  which  followed  were  quiet  and 
uneventful,  the  peaceful,  happy  days  which 
imperceptibly  glide  into  weeks  and  months. 
Carol  worked  diligently  at  his  lessons.  He 
had  so  much  lost  time  to  make  up. 

Miss  Markham  was  surprised  at  the  prog- 
ress he  made.  Whatever  tasks  she  set  him 
he  mastered  with  ease,  and  never  manifested 
fatigue  or  weariness.  He  was  still  so  slight, 
even  fragile,  in  appearance,  she  sometimes 
feared  lest  she  was  overtaxing  his  strength. 
Once,  expressing  fear  lest  this  should  be  so, 
Carol  answered  lightly,  "It  is  quite  right, 
Miss  Markham,  the  more  work  I  do,  the  more 
I  shall  be  able  to  do.  Cousin  Alicia  is  help- 
ing me  every  day." 

"Miss  Desmond  is  in  Devonshire,  Carol, 
how  can  she  help  you  ? " 

"I  am  sorry,  Miss  Markham,  I  forgot  you 
do  not  understand,"  he  said. 
SO 


A  Soldier's  Son  51 

He  had  been  so  perfectly  obedient  to  Miss 
Desmond's  wishes  in  never  talking  about 
Christian  Science,  that,  excepting  Mrs.  Man- 
deville,  no  one  remembered  anything  about 
it  in  connection  with  the  boy.  But,  gradu- 
ally, all  the  household  were  realizing  there  was 
something  strangely  different  about  the  boy 
from  other  children.  No  one  ever  heard  him 
complain  of  an  ache  or  pain.  No  one  ever 
heard  him  speak  an  unkind  or  angry  word; 
and  if,  as  sometimes,  though  seldom,  amongst 
the  Mandeville  children,  little  dissensions  or 
bickerings  arose,  if  Carol  was  near,  they 
passed  as  a  ripple  on  water,  and  all  was  har- 
mony and  peace  again. 

Nurse  loved  to  have  him  in  the  nursery. 
Miss  Markham  missed  him  when  he  was 
absent  from  the  school-room.  On  one  occa- 
sion when  he  was  in  the  nursery  a  heavy  box- 
lid  was  accidentally  allowed  to  fall  on  Rose- 
bud's fingers.  The  child  screamed  terribly 
with  the  pain,  but  before  Nurse  could  do  or  say 
anything  Carol  seized  her  in  his  arms,  and  ran 
out  of  the  room  with  her.  In  less  than  ten 
minutes  he  brought  her  back  again,  laughing 
merrily. 


52  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Naughty    fingers    don't    hurt    Rosebud 
now,"  she  said. 

Nurse  wondered,  but,  like  Miss  Markham, 
she  did  not  understand. 

It  happened  only  a  few  days  afterward  that 
Mrs.  Mandeville  did  not  come  as  usual  to 
the  school-room  immediately  after  breakfast, 
and  everyone  was  sorrowful  when  it  was 
known  that  Mother  had  one  of  her  old  nervous 
headaches.  They  knew  it  meant  not  seeing 
her  for  two  or  three  days.  She  suffered 
terribly  at  times  with  her  head,  and  had  to 
lie  in  a  darkened  room,  unable  to  bear  the  least 
noise.  The  children  hushed  their  laughter 
and  trod  softly,  though  the  school-room  and 
nurseries  were  too  far  removed  from  Mrs. 
Mandeville's  apartments  for  any  sound  to 
reach  her. 

After  morning  school,  without  saying  a 
word  to  any  one,  Carol  crept  so  noiselessly 
into  the  darkened  room  that  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville was  unaware  of  his  presence,  until  he 
softly  touched  her  with  his  hand,  and  said: 

"Auntie,  I  am  so  sorry  you  are  suffering. 
I  do  want  to  help  you.  Could  I — would 
you  let  me?" 


A  Soldier's  Son  53 

"Dear  boy,  how  sweet  of  you!  I  have  fre- 
quently suffered  with  headaches  like  this 
for  many  years.  Nothing  can  be  done,  dear. 
I  can  only  be  still  and  bear  the  pain  until 
it  passes." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  spoke  as  if  every  word  she 
uttered  tortured  her. 

"Auntie,  dear,  won't  you  let  me  try  to  help 
you?" 

"Do  you  mean,  dear,  you  want  to  say  a 
Christian  Science  prayer  for  me?" 

"Yes,  Auntie." 

"Why,  of  course,  darling,  if  you  wish  it. 
It  is  so  very  sweet  of  you!" 

Carol  softly  kissed  the  hand  she  put  out  to 
him,  and  left  the  room,  as  noiselessly  as  he 
had  entered,  closing  the  door  after  him.  He 
knew  what  pain  was.  He  went  straight  to 
his  own  room  and  closed  that  door  too.  He 
did  not  leave  his  room  until  the  gong  sounded 
for  the  school-room  dinner.  His  cousins  ex- 
claimed as  he  rejoined  them, 

"Wherever  have  you  been  all  this  time, 
Carol?" 

But  Carol  did  not  say. 

In  the  afternoon  while  the  children  were 


54  A  Soldier's  Son 

still  seated  round  the  tea-table,  the  school- 
room door  opened,  and  Mrs.  Mandeville 
entered  the  room.  There  was  one  vociferous 
exclamation  of  surprise  and  delight. 

"Mother!    Are  you  better?" 

"I  am  quite  better,"  she  said,  "I  fell  asleep. 
I  must  have  slept  a  long  time,  and  when  I 
woke  I  felt  quite  well." 

No  one  noticed  the  flush  of  joy  that  came 
to  Carol's  face.  His  hands  were  clasped, 
his  eyes  downcast  as  he  silently  breathed, 
"I  thank  Thee,  my  Father." 

Before  she  left  the  room  again,  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville caressingly  laid  her  hands  on  the  boy's 
shoulders,  and  bent  over  to  kiss  his  brow,  but 
she  did  not  allude  to  his  visit  to  her  room. 
Neither  did  he.  Some  sad  days  were  to  pass 
over  the  Manor  household  before  Mrs. 
Mandeville  acknowledged  the  help  she  had 
received. 

Carol  had  not  been  long  at  Mandeville 
before  he  became  almost  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  villagers  as  his  cousins.  He  fre- 
quently accompanied  the  three  little  girls  and 
the  second  nurse,  when  they  were  deputed  to 
carry  a  basket  of  good  things  to  any  house 


A  Soldier's  Son  55 

in  the  village  where  there  was  need.  In  this 
way  he  became  acquainted  with  the  village 
shoemaker,  Mr.  Higgs,  who,  in  his  younger 
days,  had  also  acted  as  verger  at  the  church. 
He  explained  to  Carol  the  "rheumatiz"  was 
so  bad  in  his  legs  he  hadn't  been  able  to  walk 
to  church  for  months.  He  was  often  to  be 
seen  sitting  at  the  open  cottage  door  in  the 
summer  evenings,  with  an  open  Bible  on  his 
knees,  his  hands  folded  on  it,  for  the  print 
was  too  small  for  his  failing  eyesight. 

Carol  was  thoughtful  as  he  walked  home. 
When  Mrs.  Mandeville  paid  her  usual  visit 
to  his  bedroom  in  the  evening,  she  found  him 
sitting  up  in  bed,  waiting  for  her.  He  was 
always  awake  when  she  came,  but  since  she 
had  desired  him  not  to  read  in  bed  he  never 
had  a  book  in  his  hand.  So  often  he  greeted 
her  with  the  words,  "Auntie,  I  have  been 
thinking." 

"Well,  darling,  what  have  you  been  think- 
ing about  to-night?"  she  asked  before  he 
spoke,  well  knowing  from  his  attitude  that  he 
had  been  thinking  either  of  some  pleasing 
or  some  perplexing  subject. 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  something  I  can 


56  A  Soldier 's  Son 

do,  Auntie,  if  you  will  let  me.  It  is  only  a 
very  little  thing,  but  if  we  do  not  begin  with 
little  things,  we  shall  not  be  able  some  day 
to  do  big  things,  shall  we?  I  so  often  think 
about  Jesus  when  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
he  said,  'I  must  be  about  my  Father's  busi- 
ness.' I  am  twelve  years  old,  and  God  is  my 
Father,  too.  I  want  to  be  about  His  business. 
When  I  was  talking  to  old  Mr.  Higgs  this 
morning,  he  told  me  he  cannot  walk  to  church 
now,  and  his  eyes  are  so  bad  he  cannot  see 
to  read  the  Bible.  I  thought  I  would  like  to 
go  sometimes  and  read  it  to  him,  and  help 
him  to  understand  it.  Would  you  let  me, 
Auntie  dear?  It  is  such  a  little  thing." 

"Why,  of  course,  dear;  there  can  be  no 
reason  why  you  should  not,  if  you  wish  to. 
I  don't  think  Uncle  Raymond  can  have  any 
possible  objection.  Anyway,  if  I  give  you 
permission,  that  will  be  sufficient,  will  it  not?' 

"Oh,  yes,  Auntie;  thank  you  so  very  much. 
May  I  go  every  Sunday  evening?" 

"Yes,  dear;  and  perhaps  it  may  not  be 
such  a  little  thing  as  you  think." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  thought  of  her  own  two 
boys.  How  different  Carol  was! 


A  Soldier's  Son  57 

Neither  of  them  would  have  dreamed  of 
doing  such  a  thing.  "But,"  she  mused, 
"his  long  illness  has  changed  him." 

"Auntie,  I  often  try  to  picture  Jesus  in 
his  humble  home  at  Nazareth.  I  wish  we 
knew  more.  When  he  returned  with  Joseph 
and  Mary  after  the  visit  to  the  Temple,  and 
was  always  obedient  to  them,  I  sometimes 
wonder  if  they  kept  him  back  from  going 
about  his  Father's  business,  because  they  did 
not  understand;  and  if  he  played  on  the  hill- 
sides with  the  other  village  boys,  and  no  one 
knew  until  he  was  a  man,  that  he  was  Jesus 
the  Christ." 

"There  are  many  legends  of  his  boyhood, 
dear,  but  they  are  only  legends.  We  cannot 
accept  anything  except  what  is  narrated  in 
the  Gospels.  You  must  read  Canon  Farrar's 
'Life  of  Christ.'  That  will  help  you  to 
understand  that  the  Apostles  were,  with- 
out doubt,  divinely  instructed  to  record  so 
little  of  the  boyhood  of  Jesus.  There  is  a 
copy  in  the  library.  I  will  look  it  out  for 
you." 

"Thank  you  so  much,  Auntie.  I  shall  be 
glad  to  read  it." 


58  A  Soldier's  Son 

Then  clinging  both  arms  round  her  neck, 
as  she  stooped  to  kiss  him,  he  said: 

"I  do  love  your  coming  to  my  room  like 
this,  Auntie.  I  always  keep  awake  till  you 


come." 


"I,  too,  enjoy  our  little  talks,  dear.  You 
often  give  me  a  beautiful  thought  to  take 
away  with  me:  something  I  have  not  thought 
of  before." 

The  boy  lay  awake  a  long  time  after  Mrs. 
Mandeville  left  him,  thinking  joyfully  of  the 
work  that  had  come  to  him,  wondering  how  he 
should  open  the  pages  of  that  wonderful  book, 
as  they  had  been  opened  to  him.  "Teach 
me,  Father-Mother  God,  the  words  of  Truth 
that  will  help  him,"  he  prayed.  Finally,  he 
fell  asleep  with  the  words  on  his  lips  of  the 
boy  Samuel:  "Speak,  Lord,  for  Thy  servant 
heareth." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FIRST   WORK   IN   THE   VINEYARD. 

"Would  you  like  me  to  read  to  you  for  a 
little  while  this  evening,  Mr.  Higgs?  My 
aunt  has  given  me  permission,  if  you  would 
like  me  to,"  Carol  asked  modestly  as  he 
entered  the  old  man's  cottage  the  following 
Sunday  evening.  Mr.  Higgs  was  seated  as 
usual  at  the  open  door,  watching  the  villagers 
pass  by  on  their  way  to  church. 

"Thank  you  kindly,  young  gentleman. 
I'll  be  glad  to  hear  some  of  the  words  of  the 
Book.  I  just  keep  it  close  by  me.  It  don't 
seem  Sunday  without.  But  my  eyes  fail  me, 
and  I  just  sit  and  ponder  over  some  of  the 
Psalms  I  can  well  remember.  After  the 
service  sometimes  a  neighbor'll  pop  in  and 
tell  me  the  text  Rector's  been  preaching 
about.  A  mighty  fine  preacher  is  Rector, 
but  often  I  used  to  say  to  my  Missus — she's 
dead  and  gone  these  five  years — his  thoughts 
are  like  birds,  they  fly  over  our  heads,  and  we 

59 


60  A  Soldier's  Son 

don't  seem  able  to  lay  hold  of  them.  If  he'd 
just  tell  us  something  simple  to  help  us  day 
by  day.  I'd  be  glad  now  if  I  could  remember 
some  of  the  sermons  I've  listened  to,  year  in, 
year  out.  But  there,  it's  all  gone,  and  I've 
got  no  more  understanding  of  the  Bible  than 
when  I  was  a  boy.  It's  ower  late  to  think 
about  it  now,  and  me  turned  seventy." 

"I  have  been  taught  to  understand  the 
Bible.  I  should  like  to  teach  you  what  I 
have  been  taught.  Then,  when  you  under- 
stand, you  would  lose  your  rheumatism." 

"Lose  my  rheumatism!"  The  old  man 
repeated  the  words  in  the  utmost  astonish- 
ment. 

"Why,  yes,  of  course  you  would,"  Carol 
said  with  that  wonderfully  sweet  smile  which 
won  all  hearts.  "I  had  hip-disease;  but 
I  lost  it." 

"Well,  now,  young  gentleman,  I  can  say 
with  absolute  truth  that  I  have  never  been 
told  that  before — no,  never!  though  I've  been 
a  regular  church  attendant  since  I  was  a  little 
choir  boy,  and  never  left  off  going  till  the 
joints  in  my  old  legs  grew  so  stiff  I  couldn't 
walk.  It'd  want  a  lot  of  faith,  sir,  to  believe 


A  Soldier's  Son  61 

that  just  reading  the  Bible  would  make  'em 
lissom  again." 

"Faith  conies  with  understanding.  There 
is  another  book;  it  is  called  Key  to  the  Script- 
ures. I  haven't  a  copy  of  that  book  now,  but 
I  can  remember  so  much  of  it,  I  shall  be  able 
to  help  you  to  understand  the  Bible  perhaps 
a  little  better.  We  will  commence  with  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis." 

"Yes,  now;  I  remember  that  chapter 
pretty  well.  I  learnt  it  at  Sunday  School 
sixty  years  ago,  and  I've  never  quite  for- 
gotten it.  I  could  repeat  verses  straight  off 


now." 


"And  has  it  never  helped  you  all  through 
your  life  ? " 

"Well,  no.  I  can't  say  that  chapter  has. 
I  have  found  comfort  sometimes  from  the 
Psalms.  'The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall 
not  want,'  I  have  often  turned  to  when  we'd 
a  growing  family  and  work  was  slack." 

"Let  me  read  the  chapter  now  and  then 
we  will  talk  about  it." 

The  boy  opened  the  Bible,  and  slowly  with 
an  impressiveness  which  the  old  man  had 
never  before  heard,  he  read  the  first  chapter 


62  A  Soldier's  Son 

of  Genesis,  and  three  verses  of  the  second 
chapter.  He  read  as  one  reads  words  that 
are  very  familiar  and  understandable. 

"  Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were 
finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them,  and  God  saw 
everything  that  He  had  made,  and  behold  it  was 
very  good."  He  repeated  the  words  from 
memory,  looking  with  a  kindly  smile  at  the 
old  man,  as  he  asked  the  question:  "If  God 
looked  upon  everything  which  He  had  created, 
and  declared  it  very  good — where  do  the 
things  come  from  that  are  not  good?  Who 
created  them?" 

"Well  now,  young  sir,  that  is  a  question 
I'm  not  prepared  to  answer.  I  can  only  say 
like  that  little  black  girl  in  the  story,  '  'spose 
they  growed'." 

"But  everything  must  grow  from  some- 
thing, mustn't  it?  Every  tree  and  plant  has 
its  own  seed.  God  created  every  living 
creature  after  its  kind,  and  bade  it  be  fruit- 
ful and  multiply.  So  you  see  everything  good 
was  created  by  the  Word  of  God.  Is  rheu- 
matism good?" 

"'Deed  no,  young  gentleman!  It's  cruel 
bad." 


A  Soldier's  Son  63 

"So  is  hip-disease.  It's  very,  very  'cruel 
bad,'  and  because  it  is  the  opposite  of  good 
it  was  not  amongst  the  things  which  God 
'beheld.'  Our  dear  Heavenly  Father  did  not 
create  poor  suffering  little  children  maimed 
with  hip- disease,  and  sometimes  blind.  He 
created  them  in  His  own  image  and  likeness, 
and  God  could  not  be  suffering  sometimes  with 
one  disease,  sometimes  with  another,  so  that 
His  image  and  likeness  could  have  it  too, 
could  He?  See,  if  I  hold  my  hand  up  so  it 
casts  a  shadow  on  the  wall,  that  is  an  exact 
image  or  likeness  of  my  hand,  is  it  not? 
Now  if  I  just  hold  something — only  a  slip  of 
paper  between  my  hand  and  the  reflection, 
the  reflection  is  deformed,  isn't  it?  But  my 
hand  is  not  affected  by  it.  So  when  we  are 
bound  by  any  cruel  disease,  there  is  some- 
thing between  God  and  His  image  and  like- 
ness, something  that  was  never  created  by 
Him — was  never  created  at  all.  It  is  only  a 
shadowy  mist — a  belief:  and  we  have  to  get 
rid  of  it,  by  knowing  its  unreality.  We  have 
to  know  that  because  we  are  God's  children, 
His  spiritual  creation,  we  must  be  perfect, 
even  as  He  is  perfect.  Jesus  came  to  teach 


64  A  Soldier's  Son 

people  this.  He  said,  'Be  ye  therefore  per- 
fect, even  as  your  Father  in  Heaven  is  per- 
fect.' But,  my  cousin  says,  the  world  has 
been  slow  to  learn  the  lesson.  Sin  and  disease 
will  disappear  from  our  midst  just  as  soon  as 
we  do  learn  it.  When  she  came  to  me,  and  I 
was  very  ill,  she  taught  me  that  nothing  was 
real  except  what  God  had  created,  and  pro- 
nounced good,  and  He  never  created  hip- 
disease.  Because  she  understood  this  so 
clearly,  and  taught  me  to  understand  it,  I 
soon  began  to  get  better.  I  should  like  to 
help  you  to  understand  it,  so  that  you  would 
lose  your  rheumatism.  I  think  I  have  stayed 
as  long  as  I  had  permission  to-night.  Would 
you  like  me  to  come  again  next  Sunday?" 

"  'Deed,  and  I  would,  young  gentleman." 

"My  name  is  Carol,"  the  boy  said  simply. 

"  Thank  'ee,  Master  Carol,  you've  given  me 
something  to  think  about,  I  shan't  forget 
during  the  week." 

"I  should  like  to  teach  you  the  Scientific 
Statement  of  Being.  It  is  in  that  book  I 
told  you  of,  which  explains  the  Bible.  If 
you  would  learn  it,  and  try  to  realize  it,  it 
would  help  you  so  much.' 


A  Soldier's  Son  65 

"My  mem'ry  's  none  of  the  best  now,  but 
I'll  try,"  the  old  man  said  regretfully. 

"Perhaps  it  will  be  better  for  me  to  write 
it  for  you  in  large  writing,  so  that  you  can  read 
it  until  you  know  it.  I  will  bring  it  with  me 
next  week.  These  are  the  words:  'There  is 
no  life,  truth,  intelligence,  nor  substance  in 
matter.'  He  repeated  the  words  gravely  and 
slowly  to  the  end,  the  old  man  gazing  at  him 
the  while  with  wondering  eyes.  The  sun  was 
setting;  the  crimson  light  streamed  through 
the  lattice  window  upon  the  boy's  upturned 
face,  so  sweet,  so  grave,  so  loving,  and  so 
earnest. 

"The  words  seem  difficult  to  understand 
at  first,"  he  said,  "but  you  will  soon  grow  to 
love  them.  It  is  the  truth  which  Jesus  prom- 
ised should  make  us  free.  It  has  made  me 
free.  It  will  make  you  free." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"l   KNOW." 

Carol  bounded  through  the  park  with  a 
light,  joyous  step.  On  reaching  the  Manor 
House,  he  would  have  gone  straight  to  his 
aunt,  but  there  were  visitors  with  her.  So 
he  rejoined  his  cousins  in  the  school-room. 

"Where  ever  have  you  been,  Carol?"  they 
questioned,  as  he  entered. 

"  Somewhere  Auntie  gave  me  permission  to 
go,"  he  replied  quietly. 

Miss  Markham  looked  at  the  boy's  beaming 
face,  and  she  too  wondered.  He  had  been 
absent  from  the  Scripture  lesson,  which  she, 
and  sometimes  Mrs.  Mandeville,  gave  the 
children  every  Sunday  evening.  She  felt  a 
little  remorse  that  she  had  been  conscious 
during  the  lesson  of  a  feeling  of  relief,  on 
account  of  the  boy's  absence.  Carol  so  often 
asked  a  question  in  a  quiet,  thoughtful 
manner,  which  she  was  unable  to  answer: 
and  the  question  would  often  recur  to  her 
66 


A  Soldier's  Son  67 

afterwards.  She  had  an  intuition  that  the 
boy  had  a  firmer  grasp  of  spiritual  truths 
than  she  herself  possessed.  Many  times  she 
would  have  liked  to  discuss  a  subject  with 
him.  But  Mrs.  Mandeville-had  warned  her 
that  the  boy  had  been  taught  much  that  was 
unorthodox,  she  therefore  refrained  from  dis- 
cussion. 

Though  it  was  much  later  than  usual, 
Carol  was  wide  awake  when  Mrs.  Mandeville 
came  to  his  room  that  night.  She  had 
found  all  the  other  children  fast  asleep. 

"Auntie,  I  did  want  to  tell  you,  I  had  a 
very  happy  time  with  Mr.  Higgs.  He's 
such  a  nice,  interesting  old  man.  I  was  able 
to  tell  him  so  much  that  he  had  never  thought 
about  before.  Thank  you  again  for  letting 
me  go.  He  will  like  me  to  go  next  Sunday 
— I  may — mayn't  I?" 

"Of  course,  dear;  as  it  seems  to  make  you 
so  happy;  and  I  am  sure  it  must  be  very 
nice  for  Mr.  Higgs  to  have  you  read  to  him, 
as  he  is  so  troubled  with  rheumatism.  But 
you  must  really  settle  down  to  sleep  now, 
Carol.  You  have  no  idea  how  late  it  is." 

"Yes,   Auntie,    I    shall   soon   be   asleep,    I 


68  A  Soldier's  Son 

wanted  to  tell  you  first.  I  feel  so  happy 
now,  I  can  say  one  verse  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  beau- 
tiful hymn  to-night  which  commences: 

'My  prayer  some  daily  good  to  do, 
'To  thine  for  Thee;' 

"Cousin  Alicia  used  to  sing  it  to  me  every 
night  when  I  was  ill.  I  loved  it  so  much, 
because  its  measures  did  bind  the  power  of 
pain.  Often  I  had  fallen  asleep  before  she 
came  to  the  end." 

"You  must  repeat  all  the  hymn  to  me  some 
time,  Carol,  I  shall  like  to  hear  it." 

"Yes,  Auntie,  in  the  morning.  I  have 
been  thinking  whilst  I  was  waiting  for  you  to 
come  that  when  we  want  to  do  something 
for  Truth  very,  very  much,  Love  finds  the 
way.  When  I  am  a  man,  I  shall  want,  more 
than  anything  in  all  the  world,  just  to  do 
what  Jesus  said,  those  that  loved  him  were  to 
do,  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  preach  the 
Gospel,  and  heal  the  sick.'  I  cannot  help 
remembering  there  are  so  many  little  chil- 
dren lying  now,  just  as  I  used  to  lie,  always  in 
pain;  and  they  could  be  healed,  just  as  I 
was  healed,  if  there  were  more  people  who 


A  Soldier's  Son  69 

understood  what  Jesus  meant  by  'The  truth 
shall  make  you  free." 

"And  you  are  quite  sure,  Carol,  it  is  that 
which  has  made  you  free?" 

"Oh,  Auntie,  dear,  I  can  never  let  even  the 
tiniest  thought  of  doubt  creep  up  and  make 
me  question  that.  I  know.  When  Uncle 
Raymond  read  in  church  last  Sunday  'I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,'  I  felt  I 
wanted  to  stand  up  and  tell  all  the  people 
because  He  liveth,  I  am  well.  That  is  *  know- 
ing.' I  do  long  for  the  time  to  come  when  I 
shall  be  able  to  tell  them  so,  and  I  can  give 
all  my  time  and  my  money  to  spread  the 
glad  tidings,  to  fight  for  Truth." 

"Maybe  there  is  a  great  work,  a  great 
future  before  you,  dear  boy,  surely  the  in- 
strument has  been  prepared  in  a  fierce  fire, 
and  has  come  forth  strong  for  the  battle. 
Now,  good-night,  and  God  bless  you,  darling." 
He  clasped  both  his  arms  round  her  neck, 
holding  her  tightly,  as  in  earlier  years  he  used 
to  cling  to  his  mother. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A   SECOND    VISIT   TO   THE    COTTAGE. 

The  next  Sunday  evening  when  Carol 
entered  the  shoemaker's  cottage,  he  was  not 
alone  as  before. 

"This  is  my  daughter,  Mrs.  Scott,  Master 
Carol,  and  her  little  girl,"  he  said  to  Carol. 
"We  thought,  maybe,  you  wouldn't  object 
if  she  listened  to  the  reading  too.  She  can- 
not often  go  to  church,  because  the  little 
girl  has  been  subject  to  epilepsy  since  she 
was  two  years  old.  She's  just  turned  eight 
now.  I  told  her  mother  what  you  told  me 
last  Sunday,  and  she'll  be  right  glad  to  hear 


more." 


"That  I  shall,  Master  Carol.  I  know 
something  of  hip-disease,  and  if  you  could  be 
cured  of  that,  I'm  sure  my  little  girl  could  be 
cured  of  the  fits." 

"Why,  of  course  she  could.  You  will  be 
able  to  help  her  ever  so  much  only  by  know- 
ing that  God  never  created  fits;  they  belong 
70 


A  Soldier's  Son  71 

to  the  mist  which  we  read  about  in  the  sec- 
ond chapter  of  Genesis.  I  am  going  to  read 
that  chapter  to  Mr.  Higgs  to-night.  Then 
you'll  understand.  I  will  begin  at  the  fourth 
verse,  because  the  first  three  verses  belong 
really  to  the  first  chapter,  which  is  an  account 
of  the  first  creation,  when  God  made  every- 
thing that  was  made  and  it  was  spiritual 
and  perfect.  No  one  could  ever  alter  or 
undo  God's  perfect  work;  it  remains,  and 
always  will  remain,  perfect.  When  we  under- 
stand this,  and  realize  it,  the  mist  will  dis- 
appear, and  all  the  things  which  belong  to 
the  mist — sin,  disease,  and  death." 

Father  and  daughter  looked  at  the  boy 
with  wonder  and  perplexity.  Opening  the 
Bible  he  read: 

"These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  when  they  were  created  in  the 
day  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and 
the  heavens."  He  continued  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter.  "Now  do  you  see  how  differ- 
ent this  account  of  creation  is  from  the  first?" 
he  asked.  "Who  was  the  Lord  God  who 
took  the  dust  of  the  ground  and  formed  man 
over  again,  after  God  had  already  created 


72  A  Soldier's  Son 

him,  and  pronounced  His  work  very  good?" 
The  old  man  shook  his  head.  "I  can  only 
say,  as  I  said  last  Sunday,  Master  Carol,  in 
all  the  sermons  I've  listened  to  that  has 
never  been  explained  to  me.  I  don't  think 
I  should  have  let  it  slip,  if  it  had.  It's  just 
the  first  time  I've  ever  known  there  were 
two  creations." 

"There  were  not  really  two  creations, 
though  it  reads  as  if  there  were,  because 
there  are  not  two  creators.  The  sixth  verse 
explains  it,  *  There  went  up  a  mist  from  the 
earth  and  watered  the  whole  face  of  the 
ground.'  That  mist  covered  everything 
which  God-Spirit  had  created — all  the  host 
of  them;  birds,  beasts,  and  flowers,  moun- 
tains, seas,  lakes,  rivers,  even  man:  God's 
own  image  and  likeness.  Because  the  mist 
is  over  everything  we  do  not  see  the  world 
and  man  as  they  really  exist.  So  people 
have  come  to  believe  that  God  made  man 
from  the  dust;  for  the  mist  that  is  spoken 
of  is  not  a  mist  like  we  see  rising  from  the 
sea,  or  in  the  fields  of  an  evening.  It  means 
false  belief,  misunderstanding  of  God  and 
His  spiritual  creation.  But,  my  cousin  has 


A  Soldier's  Son  73 

told  me,  there  is  a  woman  in  America  who 
once  caught  a  glimpse  of  God's  real  creation 
as  she  was  passing  through  the  death  valley. 
And  that  one  glimpse  restored  her  to  health. 
Then  she  devoted  her  whole  life  to  learn 
more  of  the  truth  that  she  might  teach 
others  how  to  see  through  the  mist,  and  to 
shake  off  their  old  beliefs.  She  has  written 
a  book  called  Science  and  Health  with  Key 
to  the  Scriptures,  which  explains  all  that  she 
has  discovered.  Simply  reading  and  study- 
ing that  book  has  made  hundreds  of  people 
well." 

"Where  could  we  get  a  copy  of  it,  Master 
Carol?  I'd  like  to  know  for  my  little  girl's 
sake,"  Mrs.  Scott  asked. 

"I  do  not  quite  know,  but  there  are  Chris- 
tian Science  churches  in  London.  If  you 
were  to  write  there  perhaps  someone  would 
tell  you.  I  wish  I  had  a  copy  to  lend  you. 
I  have  written  the  Scientific  Statement  of 
Being  from  memory.  I  am  sure  it  will  help 
you.  I  am  trying  to  realize  it  for  you,  and 
for  the  little  girl.  Think  always  of  that 
first  chapter  of  the  Bible.  In  the  beginning 
God  created  everything  that  was  created, 


74  A  Soldier's  Son 

and  it  was  very  good.  None  of  the  things 
we  want  to  get  rid  of  could  be  included  in 
God's  very  good,  could  they?  Jesus  came  to 
teach  men  to  understand  God  better,  and  he 
said,  'that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit.'  So  all  that  came  from  God  and  all 
that  still  comes  is  spiritual.  If  you  could 
quite  realize  this,  Mr.  Higgs,  you  would  soon 
lose  your  rheumatism.  I  am  only  telling 
you  what  has  been  told  me  so  many  times; 
and  I  know  it  is  true,  because  I  was  very  ill 
when  my  cousin  used  to  teach  me,  and  I 
grew  better  as  I  began  to  understand.  She 
helped  me,  because  she  saw  me  always  as 
God's  perfect  child,  and  knew  that  He  had 
never  created  hip-disease,  therefore  it  never 
was  created;  it  belonged  to  the  mist,  and 
it  would  disappear  under  the  light  of  Truth 
as  hoar  frost  disappears  when  the  sun  shines 
upon  it." 

"It  is  wonderful  and  strange  what  you  are 
telling  us,  Master  Carol,  I've  never  heard 
the  like  before,  but  somehow  I  can't  doubt 
it.  I  call  to  mind  what  the  Bible  says, 
'Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings 
God  ordains  strength.'  I'd  dearly  love  the 


A  Soldier's  Son  75 

girl  to  be  free  from  those  dreadful  fits.  My 
rheumatiz  is  very  bad,  but  Pm  an  old  man, 
and  can't  expect  to  'scape  one  o'  the  signs 
of  old  age." 

"But  you  must  not  expect.  You  must 
know  that  it  is  not  a  sign  of  old  age  in  God's 
man.  You  must  always  remember  the  man 
whom  God  created  in  His  own  image  and 
likeness." 

"I've  heard  those  words  many  times  be- 
fore, Master  Carol,  but  somehow  they  never 
seemed  to  come  home  to  me  as  you  put  it. 
Why,  of  course  I  ought  not  to  suffer  with 
rheumatiz  if  I  am  God's  image  and  likeness. 
But  what  about  all  the  poor  dwarfed  and 
stunted  creatures  that  are  crippled  from 
infancy?  There's  a  little  hunchback  in  the 
village.  He  was  dropped  when  he  was  a 
baby,  and  his  back  grew  crooked,  so  that  it's 
a  hump  now.  How  can  he  be  God's  image 
and  likeness?" 

"The  hunchback  is  not  the  likeness  of 
God,  but  the  real  child — the  spiritual  child  is, 
and  God  sees  His  child  as  He  created  it." 
The  boy  put  his  hand  over  his  eyes  a  moment, 
realizing  that  of  himself  he  was  not  telling 


76  A  Soldier's  Son 

these  simple-minded  people  anything.     Then 
he  said: 

"Suppose  a  great  sculptor  carved  a  beauti- 
ful statue  out  of  a  block  of  marble.  Before 
he  began  his  work,  he  would  have  in  his  mind 
the  form  he  wished  the  marble  to  take. 
Gradually,  as  he  worked  at  it,  the  marble 
would  become  what  his  thought  of  it  was. 
Then  one  day  he  would  see  it  finished  and 
perfect — just  what  he  intended  it  to  be. 
Then  he  would  work  no  more  at  it.  After- 
wards, suppose  some  one  came  by,  and  took 
clay  and  mixed  it  with  water  into  a  paste, 
and  then  daubed  the  beautiful  statue  all  over, 
till  the  limbs  looked  crooked,  and  the  beauty 
of  the  face  was  spoiled.  But  it  wouldn't  be 
really  spoiled,  would  it?  The  statue  would 
still  be  the  work  of  the  great  sculptor,  finished 
and  perfect;  the  clay  and  the  marble  would 
be  quite  separate  and  distinct.  Nothing  could 
make  them  one.  So  when  we  read  the  chapter 
I  have  just  read  to  you — the  Lord  God  took 
the  dust  of  the  ground  and  made  man — God's 
man  was  already  made,  finished  and  perfect, 
and  the  dust,  like  the  clay,  could  only  seem 
to  hide  the  perfect  creation.  But  we  have  to 


A  Soldier's  Son  77 

know  this  and  to  realize  it,  if  we  are  to 
get  rid  of  the  dust,  and  the  clay,  and  the 
mist.  When  my  cousin  was  explaining  all 
this  to  me  one  day,  she  said,  'It  is  not 
known  how  or  when  the  belief  in  a  Lord 
God  who  made  man  of  dust  arose;  but 
from  that  false  belief  came  sin,  sorrow, 
disease,  and  death.  Jesus  came  to  teach  us 
the  way  back  to  God;  to  teach  us  to  see 
ourselves  as  the  children  of  God,  not  of  the 
dust;  and  he  said  all  who  believed  in  him, 
in  what  he  taught,  would  never  see  death.' 
The  day  will  come,  my  cousin  said,  when  all 
men  will  so  believe  in  Jesus  the  Christ, 
and  will  so  understand  and  realize  that  God 
is  their  Father,  that  death  will  be  overcome. 
Every  case  of  sin  and  disease  which  is  healed 
by  this  knowledge — by  the  Truth — is  bringing 
that  day  nearer." 

The  look  of  bewilderment  deepened  on  the 
old  man's  face.  Surely,  the  boy  was  throwing 
a  different  light  upon  words  with  which  he  had 
been  familiar  all  his  life.  "We'll  think  over 
what  you've  told  us,  Master  Carol — me  and 
my  daughter.  It  sort  o'  goes  to  me  that  it's 


true." 


78  A  Soldier's  Son 

Again  the  words  came  to  him,  "Out  of  the 
mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings." 

The  church  clock  chimed  the  half-hour. 
Carol  stood  up  to  go.  "The  time  has  gone 
so  quickly.  I  must  not  stay  longer  now.  I 
will  come  again  next  Sunday,  and  all  the 
week  will  you  try  to  know  that  God's  work 
was  finished  and  perfect  in  the  beginning,  and 
everything  that  seems  to  have  been  added  to 
it — rheumatism  and  fits — has  no  right  to  be?" 

"We  will,  Master  Carol,  we'll  just  think 
of  the  marble  statue  and  the  clay.  It  will 
help  us." 

"I  will  hold  the  right  thought  for  you  and 
the  little  girl,  and  I  know  that  soon  you  will 
find  that  both  the  afflictions,  which  seem  so 
real,  belong  to  the  mist." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"IT  IS   THE  TRUTH." 

Carol  faithfully  kept  his  appointment  on 
the  following  Sunday.  His  cousins  ceased 
to  inquire,  though  not  to  wonder,  what  be- 
came of  him  every  Sunday  evening,  and  once 
appealed  to  Mrs.  Mandeville  for  information. 
She  smilingly  replied,  "It  is  a  little  secret 
between  Carol  and  me.  Perhaps  you  will 
be  told  some  time,  but  not  just  yet." 

As  Carol  entered  the  cottage,  Mr.  Higgs 
rose  from  his  seat,  and  stood  upright. 

"Master  Carol,"  he  exclaimed  in  a  voice 
of  suppressed  excitement,  "it  is  the  Truth, 
the  blessed  Truth  you've  told  us.  I  can't 
say  I've  lost  my  rheumatics  entirely,  for  the 
joints  are  like  rusty  hinges  that  want  a 
lot  o'  oiling  after  being  idle  so  long;  but  I've 
just  been  free  from  pain  all  the  week;  and  my 
little  grand-daughter  hasn't  had  one  fit  all 
the  week." 

"No,   Master   Carol,   she   has   not,"   Mrs. 

79 


80  A  Soldier's  Son 

Scott  added.  "I  won't  say  she  has  never 
gone  a  whole  week  without  one  before,  but  for 
the  last  twelve  months  I  don't  think  she  has, 
until  this  week." 

"Try  not  to  remember  anything  that  has 
been.  Think  it  was  all  a  dream,  and  she  is 
awakening  from  it.  I  had  a  very  cruel  dream 
once,  but  I  have  awakened  from  it.  God's 
children  must  cling  very  closely  to  Him,  then 
nothing  can  hurt  them.  It  is  when  shadowy 
fears  come  between  God  and  His  image  and 
likeness  that  dreadful  things  seem  to  happen 
to  us." 

Mr.  Higgs  and  Mrs.  Scott  did  not  under- 
stand yet  how  the  boy  had  all  the  week  been 
working  for  them  —  fighting  error  with  the 
sword  of  Truth. 

"I  want  to  read  a  chapter  from  the  New 
Testament  this  evening,"  Carol  said,  opening 
the  Bible.  "It  is  always  a  favorite  chapter, 
but  one  verse,  my  cousin  said,  seemed  never 
to  have  impressed  people  as  applicable  to  the 
present  day.  Yet  the  words  are  so  simple. 
I  will  read  the  chapter  first,  then  we'll  talk 
about  that  one  verse." 

He  read  the  14th  chapter  of  St.  John  frorn 


A  Soldier's  Son  81 

the  1st  verse  to  the  last,  then  asked  quietly, 
"Do  you  remember  that  Jesus  once  said, 
'Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my 
words  shall  never  pass  away'?" 

"Yes,  Master  Carol.  I  remember  those 
words  well." 

"Then  is  there  not  a  verse  in  the  chapter 
I  have  just  read  which  seems  as  if  Jesus' 
words  had  failed?"  The  old  man  looked 
puzzled. 

"I  can't  say  that  I  know  what  you  are 
alluding  to,  Master  Carol." 

"I  will  read  it  again.  It  is  the  1 2th verse. 
'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he 
do  also,  and  greater  works  than  these  shall 
he  do,  because  I  go  unto  my  Father.'  What 
were  the  works  that  Jesus  did?  Was  it  not 
healing  the  sick,  cleansing  the  lepers,  raising 
the  dead,  feeding  the  hungry?  Well,  if  no 
one  can  do  these  works  to-day,  his  word  has 
failed  or  else  no  one  has  sufficient  faith 
(faith  may  sometimes  mean  understanding). 
Many  centuries  rolled  by,  and  the  sick  were 
not  healed,  nor  the  lepers  cleansed,  in  Jesus' 
name.  But  now  we  know  his  words  never 


82  A  Soldier's  Son 

failed.  It  was  the  faith  or  understanding 
of  those  who  thought  they  believed  in  him 
which  failed;  for  the  sick  are  being  healed 
now,  and  the  lepers  cleansed." 

"  It  is  very  wonderful  as  you  put  it,  Master 
Carol.  I  can't  say  it  has  ever  been  explained 
like  that  to  me  before." 

"Is  it  not  very  simple?"   Carol  asked. 

"Why,  yes.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me 
the  Master's  words  were  very  simple,  a  child 
could  understand  them.  But  when  you  come 
to  the  Epistles,  and  the  creeds  of  the  Church, 
there's  many  things  that  I  have  never  been 
able  to  understand;  and  often  the  sermons 
I've  listened  to  puzzled  me  more  than  the 
texts." 

"In  the  I5th  verse  Jesus  says,  'If  ye  love 
me,  keep  my  commandments.'  Jesus  did 
not  give  many  commandments  to  his  fol- 
lowers. He  told  them  many  things,  but  of 
strict  commandments  he  gave  only  a  few. 
One  was,  'Go  into  all  the  world,  preach  the 
Gospel  and  heal  the  sick. '  If  you  had  a  son, 
and  you  commanded  him  to  do  two  things 
and  he  did  only  one,  and  left  the  other  alone, 


A  Soldier's  Son  83 

would  you  be  pleased  with  him?  Would  he 
be  obedient  to  your  commands?" 

"Certainly  I  shouldn't  be  pleased  with  him, 
and  I'd  soon  let  him  know  that,  if  he  didn't 
do  all  I  commanded,  he  needn't  do  anything." 

"Yes,  but  Jesus  just  makes  it  a  test  of  love. 
He  says  so  gently,  'If  ye  love  me,  keep  my 
commandments.'  To  those  who  keep  all 
his  commandments  he  will  one  day  say, 
'Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,'  I 
do  hope  that  some  day  he  will  say  those 
words  to  me." 

"I'm  right  sure  he  will,  Master  Carol. 
It  is  just  wonderful  the  way  you  are  helping 
an  old  man  to  understand.  It  amazes  me 
that  a  boy  of  your  years  should  have  such  an 
understanding." 

"Oh,  please  don't  think  I  am  telling  you 
anything  of  myself.  It  has  all  been  explained 
to  me  many  times.  I  am  only  telling  you 
what  has  been  told  me.  I  wish  my  cousin 
could  talk  to  you.  She  would  help  you  much 
better  than  I  can.  But  we  must  not  with- 
hold what  we  have  because  some  one  else 
has  more,  must  we?  We  must  hand  on  the 
good  tidings  as  well  as  we  are  able." 


84  A  Soldier's  Son 

"That's  it,  Master  Carol.  Maybe  I'll  do 
a  little  that  way  myself  later  on." 

"Yes,  I  am  sure  you  will,  but  don't  talk 
about  your  rheumatism  being  better  just  yet. 
Wait  until  the  evil  is  quite  cast  out.  When 
I  come  next  week  I  will  explain  to  you  how  we 
learn  in  Science  and  Health  that  God  gave 
man  dominion,  and  what  God  has  given  can 
never  be  taken  away.  God  says  His  word 
shall  never  return  unto  Him  void.  When 
He  decreed  anything,  it  was  forever.  You 
could  not  think  of  the  sun,  moon,  or  stars 
moving  out  of  their  appointed  courses,  could 
you?  It  is  only  man  who  seems  to  have 
wandered  from  his  native  sphere.  We  have 
to  learn  that  this  is  not  so;  we  have  not 
really  lost  the  dominion  which  God  gave  His 
children  in  the  beginning.  St.  John  says, 
'Now  are  we  the  sons  of  God;  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  but  we  know 
that  when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like 
Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.'  That 
verse  helped  me  so  much  when  I  was  ill.  I 
learned  I  had  not  to  die  to  become  a  son  of 
God.  God  is  my  Father  here  and  now,  and 
God's  child  ought  not  to  believe  a  lie.  It  was 


A  Soldier's  Son  85 

a  lie  that  evil  could  have  power  over  me,  and 
bind  me.  It  is  a  lie  that  evil  can  have  power 
over  you,  and  bind  you.  If  you  acknowl- 
edge God  as  your  Father,  God's  child  should 
not  go  along  believing  he  has  rheumatism, 
should  he?" 

"Thank  you,  Master  Carol.  I'll  take  hold 
of  that.  I  can  understand  it.  I  wish  Rector 
would  talk  to  us  sometimes  like  this.  I 
know  it  is  all  in  the  Bible,  yet  it  never  came 
home  to  me  before." 

Mrs.  Scott  listened  attentively  to  all  the 
boy  was  telling  her  father,  but  made  no  re- 
mark. Her  little  girl  was  sitting  in  the  porch 
nursing  her  doll,  crooning  a  lullaby.  Carol 
left  them  with  the  promise  to  come  again 
next  Sunday. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AN  UNEXPECTED  ENCOUNTER. 

With  thoughts  so  joyous  and  uplifted, 
Carol's  feet  scarcely  seemed  to  touch  the 
springy  turf  of  the  park  as  he  returned  to 
the  Manor.  The  uplifting  joy,  unlike  any- 
thing that  earth  can  give,  which  comes  from 
the  consciousness  that  work  done  for,  and  in 
the  Master's  name,  is  accepted  of  him,  was 
his ;  the  promised  signs  following. 

He  did  not  see  Mrs.  Mandeville  until  she 
paid  her  usual  visit  to  his  bedroom. 

His  young  face  was  radiant  with  joy  and 
happiness.  "Auntie,"  he  said,  "Mr.  Higgs 
is  beginning  to  understand;  and  he  is  losing 
his  rheumatism." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  smiled.  There  was  so 
much  love  and  tenderness  in  her  smile  the  in- 
credulity was  not  apparent.  She  put  a  lov- 
ing arm  around  him,  drawing  the  boy  closer 
to  her. 

"Is  that  what  you  have  been  thinking  to- 
night, dear?" 
86 


A  Soldier's  Son  87 

"Not  altogether,  Auntie.  I  have  been 
thinking  of  what  it  means  by  the  words, 
'The  mind  that  was  in  Christ.'  That  was 
what  I  was  reading  when  I  came  to  bed. 
If  we  are  to  have  that  Mind,  we  should  under- 
stand what  it  is.  But,  Auntie,  I  can't  get  any 
farther  than  love:  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ 
was  love.  God  is  Love,  and  Jesus  said,  'I 
and  my  Father  are  one.'  So,  Auntie,  when 
our  hearts  are  filled  with  love  for  the  poor 
and  afflicted  and  sorrowing,  it  is  the  Christ 
mind  that  comes  to  us.  Because  Jesus  loved 
all  who  came  to  him,  he  was  able  to  heal  them. 
He  said,  'I  can  of  myself  do  nothing,  it  is  the 
Father  that  worketh  in  me.  He  doeth  the 
works.'  Jesus  was  a  perfect  mirror,  reflect- 
ing the  love  which  is  God.  That  is  why  he 
said,  'They  that  have  seen  me  have  seen 
my  Father  also.'  Cousin  Alicia  explained 
this  once  to  me,  but  I  did  not  quite  under- 
stand it  at  the  time.  I  see  so  clearly  now. 
When  we  reflect  love  as  Jesus  did,  we  shall 
be  able  to  do  the  works  that  he  did.  I  often 
wonder,  Auntie,  why  Uncle  Raymond  and  all 
the  clergy  who  preach  the  Gospel  don't  help 


88  A  Soldier's  Son 

people  when  they  are  ill.  It  is  not  being 
obedient,  is  it?" 

Mrs.  Mandeville's  face  was  grave. 

"Ought  I  not  to  question  this,  Auntie?" 

"Perhaps  it  would  be  better  not,  dear, 
until  you  are  older.  I  do  not  understand 
myself.  It  is  a  subject  I  never  seriously  con- 
sidered until  you  came  to  us.  Now  I  think 
I  must  say  good-night,  my  little  lie-awake." 

"I  always  fall  asleep  soon  after  I  have  said 
*  good-night'  to  you,  Auntie." 

"That  is  right,  darling.  I  do  enjoy  our 
little  talks;  they  are  very  sweet  and  helpful 
to  me,  Carol." 

Then,  after  a  long,  loving  embrace,  she  left 
him,  a  grave,  thoughtful,  but  happy  expres- 
sion on  her  face. 

The  following  Saturday  morning  after 
breakfast  the  three  little  girls  told  Carol, 
with  delight,  that  they  were  going  to  the  home 
farm  in  the  afternoon,  and  begged  him  to  go 
with  them.  Carol  promised.  He  never  re- 
fused to  go  anywhere  or  to  do  anything  when 
Rosebud  asked  him.  It  was  different  with 
Percy  and  Frank.  They  were  always  too 
busy. 


A  Soldier's  Son  89 

Carol  knew  how  great  a  delight  a  visit  to 
the  farm  was  to  the  little  girls,  where  each 
had  a  special  pet  of  her  own  which  the  farmer's 
wife  kindly  took  care  of  for  them.  Carol 
had  visited  the  farm  once  before,  and  was 
almost  as  interested  as  the  little  girls  in 
the  animals  and  poultry  yard.  The  school- 
room children  had  grown  out  of  the  interest 
they  once  had  in  visiting  the  farm. 

Saturday  being  a  school  holiday,  the  boys 
were  at  home  all  day.  After  lunch  Percy 
said: 

"I  say,  Carol,  some  fellows  are  coming 
this  afternoon;  we  are  going  to  have  a  game 
at  rounders.  You  can  manage  that.  Will 
you  come?" 

Carol  was  never  asked  to  join  in  a  game 
at  cricket  or  football,  as  his  uncle  and  aunt 
feared  it  would  not  be  good  for  him.  "lam 
sorry,  Percy;  I  cannot.  I  promised  Rosebud 
and  Sylvia  to  go  with  them  to  the  farm 
this  afternoon." 

Percy  turned  impatiently  away.  He  was 
annoyed.  Carol  caught  the  muttered  words: 
"Milk-sop  prefers  a  walk  with  the  babies." 

He  was  not  versed  in  school-boy  slang,  but 


90  A  Soldier's  Son 

naturally  felt  it  was  an  opprobrious  epithet 
applied  to  himself.  A  crimson  flush  rose  to 
his  face.  On  the  way  to  the  farm,  he  asked 
Jane,  the  second  nurse,  who  accompanied 
them: 

"Can  you  tell  me  what  milk-sop  means, 
Jane?" 

"Well,  Master  Carol,  it's  what  school-boys 
call  one  another,  sometimes.  But  it's  not  a 
nice  word.  I  suppose  it  means  something  of 
a  coward." 

Carol  fell  behind.  The  crimson  flush  re- 
turned and  dyed  his  cheeks  again.  "Percy 
did  not  mean  it  He  spoke  without  thinking. 
He  forgot  I  am  a  soldier's  son.  /  am  not 
angry.  I  will  not  let  you  in!" 

"Were  you  speaking,  Master  Carol?"  Jane 
asked. 

"I  was  only  telling  Mrs.  Anger  and  Mr. 
Anger,  and  a  lot  of  little  Angers,  there  is  no 
room  for  them  in  my  mansion.  Love  is 
there,  and  cannot  be  driven  away." 

"You  do  say  such  funny  things,  Master 
Carol,"  Jane  remarked. 

"But  there  is  nothing  funny  in  that,  Jane. 
You  see  our  mind  is  our  mansion,  and  if  we 


A  Soldier's  Son  91 

keep  it  filled  with  loving  thoughts,  angry 
thoughts  cannot  creep  in.  Some  angry 
thoughts  were  just  trying  to  force  their  way 
in,  and  I  had  to  tell  them  there  was  no  room." 

Still  Jane  smiled,  but  she,  as  everyone  else 
at  the  Manor,  loved  the  gentle  boy,  who  had 
what  seemed  to  them  such  strange  thoughts. 

A  messenger  always  appeared  to  go  in 
advance  and  tell  the  farmer's  wife  when  the 
little  ladies  might  be  expected.  She  never 
failed  to  have  such  a  lovely  tea  spread  on  a 
snowy  white  tablecloth,  and  her  best  china 
gracing  the  table.  Tea  in  the  farm  kitchen 
was  quite  different  from  the  usual  nursery 
tea  at  home.  Such  delicious  scones  and  tea- 
cakes!  (It  really  would  not  have  pleased 
cook  to  hear  the  praise  bestowed  upon  them, 
as  if  she  did  not  make  quite  as  good.) 

After  tea  they  went  around  the  farm- 
yard to  inspect  their  pets.  A  little  gosling, 
quite  tame  and  friendly,  was  chosen  for 
Carol's  especial  pet.  The  hour,  which  was 
all  nurse  had  allowed  them,  passed  very 
quickly,  and  they  started  on  the  homeward 
walk.  They  had  not  gone  far  when  a  driz- 
zling rain  began.  Jane  then  suggested  the 


92  A  Soldier's  Son 

advisability  of  crossing  a  field  which  would 
shorten  the  distance  considerably.  When 
they  came  to  the  field,  she  was  surprised  to 
find  the  gate  fastened. 

"This  gate  is  generally  open.  I  wonder 
why  it  is  padlocked  to-day,  but  it  is  not  too 
high  to  get  over.  If  you  climb  over  first, 
Master  Carol,  I  can  lift  Rosebud  over  to  you." 

Carol  soon  mounted  the  five-barred  gate, 
and  landed  safely  on  the  other  side,  then 
received  one  by  one  Rosebud,  Estelle,  and 
Sylvia,  from  Jane's  arm,  as  she  lifted  them 
over.  They  had  walked  about  two  hundred 
yards  when  Jane  stood  still  in  an  agony  of 
fright,  as  an  animal,  which  had  been  lying 
unperceived  in  a  distant  corner  of  the  field, 
rose  up  and  came  towards  them  with  a  loud 
bellow. 

"Oh,  Master  Carol!  What  shall  we  do? 
It's  the  bull!  He's  a  terror!  I've  heard  of 
him.  He's  a  tosser!" 

"Don't  be  frightened,  Jane.  Just  walk 
quietly.  The  bull  won't  hurt  us,  if  we  are 
not  frightened." 

Jane  caught  Rosebud  in  her  arms,  and  with 
Estelle  and  Sylvia  clinging  to  either  side, 


A  Soldier's  Son  93 

walked  as  quickly  as  she  dared  towards  the 
stile  on  the  other  side  of  the  field.  For- 
tunately, it  was  a  stile  easier  to  mount  than 
the  five-barred  gate  had  been.  It  was  but 
the  work  of  a  moment  and  the  three  little 
girls  were  lifted  safely  to  the  other  side.  Then, 
Jane  turned  to  look  for  Carol.  He  had 
walked  only  a  third  of  the  distance,  keeping 
always  between  the  bull  and  his  cousins,  and 
now  he  stood  face  to  face  with  the  animal, 
a  few  yards  only  between  them.  Another 
low  bellow,  and  then  the  animal  bent  his 
head  to  the  ground,  prepared  for  a  spring. 
"Run,  run,  Master  Carol,"  Jane  screamed. 
It  was  a  fatal  appeal.  The  mesmerism  of 
fear  seized  Carol.  He  turned  to  look  after 
his  cousins.  The  next  instant  he  was  on  the 
horns  of  the  animal,  tossed  high  in  the  air, 
as  if  he  had  been  no  heavier  than  an  India- 
rubber  ball.  Mercifully,  he  fell  on  the  other 
side  of  the  hedge,  which  divided  that  field 
from  the  next.  With  a  roar  of  baffled  rage, 
the  animal  stampeded  the  field,  seeking  to 
toss  his  victim  a  second  time. 


CHAPTER  XL 
PERCY'S  REMORSE. 

.  The  three  little  girls  set  up  a  piteous  cry 
of  "Carol,"  "Carol."  Jane  was  speechless, 
only  wringing  her  hands  in  her  extremity. 
What  could  she  do?  It  was  half  a  mile  to 
return  to  the  farm  for  help,  and  a  mile  to  the 
nearest  lodge  belonging  to  the  Manor;  and 
there  was  no  house  between.  She  could  not 
see  where  Carol  had  fallen.  But  she  knew 
it  was  over  the  hedge  into  the  next  field. 
She  feared  the  infuriated  animal  would  force 
its  way  through.  Though  she  could  not  in 
any  way  protect  him,  it  seemed  terrible  to 
go  from  the  place,  even  to  get  help,  and  leave 
him  there.  Many  moments  were  lost  in  her 
frenzied  attempts  to  force  an  entrance  into 
the  field  from  the  lane.  It  was  in  vain.  The 
thick,  high  hedge  was  impregnable.  She 
called  again  and  again  to  Carol  to  speak, 
to  answer  her,  but  there  was  no  response. 
It  seemed  an  eternity  before  there  was  the 

94 


A  Soldier's  Son  95 

welcome  sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  in  the  lane, 
which  drew  nearer  until  a  stanhope  came  in 
sight,  containing  Colonel  Mandeville,  a  friend, 
and  a  groom. 

The  three  little  girls  cried :  "  Daddy,  Daddy, 
the  bull  has  tossed  Carol!" 

Colonel  Mandeville  sprang  from  the  ve- 
hicle on  the  instant,  scarcely  understanding 
what  the  children  said.  Their  distress  was 
evident.  That  was  sufficient.  Jane  then 
tried  to  explain. 

"We  were  crossing  the  field,  sir.  I  did  not 
know  the  bull  was  there.  He  has  tossed 
Master  Carol  over  the  hedge  into  this  field, 
and  we  cannot  get  at  him." 

Colonel  Mandeville  uttered  one  low,  sad 
exclamation. 

"Where  is  the  entrance  into  the  field?" 
he  asked. 

"There  is  a  gate  into  it  from  the  field  where 
the  bull  is.  Oh,  please,  sir,  it  isn't  safe; 
the  bull  is  awfully  enraged,"  she  added,  as 
Colonel  Mandeville  walked  towards  the  stile. 

He  turned  to  say  to  the  groom:  "Follow 
me,"  and  to  his  friend:  "Manton,  drive  to 
the  village  and  bring  Dr.  Burton  along.  I 


96  A  Soldier's  Son 

fear  we  shall  want  him."  To  Jane  he  said 
briefly:  "Take  the  children  home." 

Then  he  mounted  the  stile,  and  entered 
the  field,  a  gun  in  his  hand,  which  the  groom 
had  handed  him  from  the  stanhope.  The 
gentlemen  had  been  shooting.  The  bull  was 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  field.  He  sprang 
towards  the  fresh  intruder  with  a  bellow. 
Colonel  Mandeville  pointed  his  gun;  there 
was  a  report,  and  the  next  instant  the  beast 
rolled  over  on  his  side,  dead.  The  groom 
then  followed  his  master.  They  had  a  little 
difficulty  in  opening  the  gate  into  the  next 
field,  but  succeeded  at  last,  and  were  able  to 
get  in. 

Under  the  shadow  of  the  hedge  Carol  was 
lying — still,  motionless. 

Colonel  Mandeville  knelt  beside  him. 

"Carol,  Carol,"  he  said  softly,  but  there 
was  no  response.  "Go  to  the  farm  as  quickly 
as  you  can.  Tell  them  to  improvise  an 
ambulance.  Bring  it  along.  Lose  not  a 
moment,"  he  said  to  the  groom. 

Then  he  knelt  on  the  ground,  trying  again 
to  awake  the  boy  to  consciousness:  "My  poor 
wife,  how  will  she  bear  this?"  he  said  to  him- 


A  Soldier's  Son  97 

self,  knowing  well  that  Carol  was  as  dear  to 
her  as  her  youngest  born,  the  Rosebud  of  the 
family.  The  signs  of  life  were  so  faint,  he 
could  not  hope  the  boy  would  ever  regain 
consciousness. 

Dr.  Burton  was  fortunately  at  home.  In 
an  inconceivably  short  time  he  arrived  on  the 
scene;  and  the  groom  returned  with  an  am- 
bulance, followed  by  the  farmer,  his  wife,  and 
some  of  the  men,  all  anxious  to  give  any  as- 
sistance they  could. 

Dr.  Burton  and  Colonel  Mandeville  very 
tenderly  lifted  Carol  on  to  the  ambulance, 
a  faint  moan  was  the  only  sign  of  life,  but 
all  were  glad  to  hear  even  that.  Dr.  Burton 
would  not  make  any  examination  until  they 
could  lay  him  on  a  bed,  and  cut  off  his  clothes. 

There  was  no  question  of  breaking  the  news 
gently  to  Mrs.  Mandeville;  she  was  returning 
from  a  drive  as  the  little  girls  reached  the 
gates.  They  ran  to  her  sobbing  broken- 
heartedly. 

She  was  very  calm,  but  her  face  grew 
deadly  white,  and  wore  again  the  strained 
expression  which  had  been  so  frequent  during 
the  sad  days  of  the  war.  She  could  not 


98  A  Soldier's  Son 

remain  inactive,  and  walked  to  meet  the  sad 
procession. 

As  soon  as  Colonel  Mandeville  saw  her, 
he  advanced  quickly  to  her  side,  and  turned 
her  steps  homeward.  He  would  not  let  her 
see  the  boy  as  he  lay  on  the  ambulance,  look- 
ing so  like  death. 

Only  Colonel  Mandeville  was  with  Dr. 
Burton  when  he  made  the  critical  examina- 
tion. There  were  no  broken  bones,  he  said, 
but  added  that  there  are  things  worse  to  deal 
with  than  broken  bones,  and  hinted  gravely 
at  concussion  of  the  brain  and  spinal  con- 
gestion. There  were  two  terrible  bruises 
where  he  had  been  caught  on  the  bull's  horns. 
He  could  not  hold  out  any  hope  to  them,  but 
desired  a  second  opinion,  and  a  telegram  was 
at  once  despatched  to  a  great  London  physi- 
cian, who,  it  was  calculated,  would  be  able  to 
reach  Mandeville  that  night  if  he  caught  the 
evening  express.  Then  Mrs.  Mandeville  took 
her  place  by  the  bedside.  She  could  do  noth- 
ing, only  watch  in  tearful  silence  the  pallid 
face  that  had  become  so  dear  to  her,  lying  so 
still,  so  calm,  it  seemed  at  times  the  lips 
were  breathless.  The  reply  telegram  came 


A  Soldier's  Son  99 

quickly.  Sir  Wilfrid  would  be  able  to  catch 
the  evening  express  which  would  stop  at 
Mandeville  by  request.  He  would  reach  the 
Manor  about  ten  o'clock. 

Not  until  the  physician's  arrival,  when  he 
and  Dr.  Burton  held  a  consultation  together, 
did  Mrs.  Mandeville  leave  the  bedside.  She 
then  retired  to  her  own  room  for  a  little 
time.  Miss  Markham  came  to  her  there, 
begging  her  to  go  and  speak  to  Percy.  "His 
grief,"  she  said,  "is  quite  uncontrollable. 
I  have  done  all  I  can  to  comfort  him.  But 
nothing  I  can  say  seems  to  touch  him."  Mrs. 
Mandeville  went  at  once  to  Percy's  room. 
He  had  thrown  himself  undressed  on  his  bed, 
and  was  sobbing  hysterically,  as  she  entered 
the  room. 

"Percy,  my  dear  boy,  you  must  not  grieve 
like  this." 

As  soon  as  he  was  aware  it  was  his  mother 
beside  him,  he  flung  his  arms  round  her  neck. 

"Oh,  Mother,  I  can  never,  never,  be  happy 
again  if  Carol  dies.  If  he  had  not  been  there 
with  them,  the  bull  would  have  tossed  my 
little  sisters.  Jane  said  he  stood  between 
them  and  the  bull.  He  is  the  bravest  boy, 


100 


A  Soldier's  Son 


and  I — I — called  him  a — a —  He  could  not 
repeat  the  word  he  had  so  lightly,  thought- 
lessly uttered  a  few  hours  previously. 

"If  only  I  could  tell  him  I  did  not  mean 
it,  and  ask  him  to  forgive  me,  Mother.  Oh! 
won't  he  ever  be  able  to  speak  to  me  again?" 

"Dear  Percy,  I  hope  so.  Sir  Wilfrid 
Wynne  is  with  him  now,  and  everything 
possible  will  be  done  for  him.  I  am  sure, 
darling,  he  would  not  like  you  to  grieve  like 
this.  He  always  has  such  loving  thoughts 
of  others."  The  remembrance  of  all  his 
gentleness  and  loving  thought  for  others 
was  too  much  for  Mrs.  Mandeville.  Clasp- 
ing her  boy  closely  to  her,  she  wept  with  him. 
Heaven  was  still  to  her  a  locality,  and  death 
the  gateway  to  it;  and  Carol  had  always 
seemed  so  very  near  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven. 

All  the  household  awaited  with  cruel  sus- 
pense the  great  man's  verdict,  trusting  to 
him,  forgetful  that  human  skill  had  failed 
the  boy  once  before  in  his  hour  of  need, 
forgetful  of  that  friend  in  Devonshire  who 
loved  him  as  her  own  son.  No  message  had 
been  sent  to  her. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  PHYSICIAN'S  VERDICT. 

Sir  Wilfrid  Wynne  gave  his  verdict,  and  it 
was  almost  a  repetition  of  what  Dr.  Burton 
had  said.  He  could  do  nothing.  There  was 
little  hope  he  would  regain  consciousness. 
If  he  did,  it  would  be  but  a  passing  flash 
before  the  end.  He  might  linger  in  his 
present  condition  twenty-four  hours  or  longer; 
and  he  might  pass  away  any  moment  without 
a  struggle.  It  would  be  cruel  to  wish  him  to 
live;  the  shock  to  the  spine  had  been  so 
great,  if  he  lived,  he  would  inevitably  lose 
the  use  of  his  lower  limbs.  Sir  Wilfrid  was 
grieved;  he  had  known  the  boy's  father. 
He  would  gladly  have  remained,  had  there 
been  any  hope  of  doing  anything  for  him. 
He  took  his  departure  by  motor-car  to  catch 
the  mail  train  at  a  junction  ten  miles  distant. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  returned  to  her  place  by 
the  bedside,  calm  and  still,  after  her  par- 
oxysm of  weeping.  Colonel  Mandeville  was 

101 


IO2  A  Soldier's  Son 

with  her,  and  presently  the  Rector  came 
into  the  room. 

"Raymond,  pray  for  him,"  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville  said.  "He  is  in  God's  hands.  No 
human  power  can  help  him." 

They  all  knelt  and  the  Rector  prayed 
aloud.  He  did  not  petition  for  the  boy's 
life  to  be  spared.  He  humbly  asked  that  the 
hearts  of  those  who  loved  him  might  be 
submissive  to  God's  all-wise  decree.  "Thy 
will  be  done,"  was  the  dominant  note  of  the 
prayer.  When  they  rose  from  their  knees, 
there  was  an  expression  on  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville's  face  which  no  one  had  ever  seen  be- 
fore. The  prayer  had  not  helped  her:  it 
was  not  submission  nor  resignation  in  any 
degree  which  had  come  to  her.  She  turned  to 
the  Rector. 

"I  do  not  believe  it,  Raymond.  This  is 
not  God's  will.  God  could  not  order  any- 
thing so  cruel  to  befall  a  child,  so  loving  and 
dutiful — whose  faith  in  God's  loving  care  of 
him  has  always  been  so  beautiful  to  me  to 
witness.  Could  I,  who  know  only  human 
love,  suffer  anything  like  this  to  befall  my 
little  Rosebud,  or  any  of  my  children?  Is 


A  Soldier's  Son  103 

human  love  more  pitiful  and  compassionate 
than  divine  love?  This  dear  boy  could  eas- 
ily have  saved  himself;  he  stood  between  the 
cruel  beast  and  my  little  girls.  All  three 
of  them  might  be  lying  as  he  is  lying  now 
but  for  his  self-sacrifice.  Don't  tell  me  it  is 
God's  will!  If  I  could  believe  it,  I  would 
wish  I  were  a  heathen,  and  worshipped  a 
god  of  wood  and  stone!" 

The  Rector  could  only  gaze  in  pained 
astonishment.  Such  an  outburst  was  so  un- 
like his  usually  calm  and  gentle  sister.  He 
judged  she  was  beside  herself  with  grief. 
She  stood  with  clasped  hands,  wide-open  eyes, 
unseeing,  yet  seeing,  gazing  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  that  room,  catching  a  momentary 
vision  of  that  light  which  '  never  was,  on  land 
or  sea.' 

She  became  calm  again — serenely  calm. 

"I  see  it,"  she  said.  "I  understand.  This 
is  not  God's  will.  It  is  not  His  work.  His 
compassions  fail  not.  His  love  is  over  all 
His  children.  With  Him  is  the  Fountain  of 
Life.  Does  He  not  say,  'I  will  redeem  them 
from  death'?  He  will  save  this  dear  child 
from  the  grave.  Leave  me,  please.  I  want 


IO4  A  Soldier's  Son 

to  be  alone — alone  with  Carol  and  God.  I 
want  to  realize  it.  Yes;  God's  will  be  done. 
Life,  not  death,  is  God's  will.  I  see  it,  I  see 
so  clearly." 

To  her  husband  she  said  softly,  "I  will  ring 
if  I  want  anything,  dear.  Don't  let  anyone 
come  into  the  room  until  I  ring." 

When  all  had  left  the  room,  and  the  door 
was  closed,  she  knelt  beside  the  bed,  with 
outstretched  arms.  It  was  a  mother's  cry 
to  God  for  the  life  of  a  child  that  was  as  dear 
to  her  as  her  own.  Hour  after  hour  passed, 
and  still  she  knelt.  Words  failed  her,  peti- 
tion ceased:  the  realization  came  to  her  that 
God  is  Life:  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being.  In  Infinite  Life  there  is  no 
death.  Death  never  is,  and  never  can  be 
God's  will.  The  knowledge,  the  under- 
standing of  God  as  All-in-all  vanquishes 
death!  "O,  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues. 
O,  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction!"  (Hosea 
XIII.,  14.) 

The  morning  dawned,  the  bright  sunbeams 
stole  into  the  room.  The  boy  opened  his 
eyes.  "Auntie," — she  was  bending  over  him 
— "  I  have  been  dreaming.  I  thought  I  was  in 


A  Soldier's  Son  105 

a  field,  and  a  bull  tossed  me  high  up  into  the 
air.  But  I  knew  in  my  dream,  'underneath 
are  the  everlasting  arms.'  Then  I  dreamed 
again,  and  two  men  were  turning  me  about, 
and  moving  my  arms  and  legs,  and  one  said, 
*  There  is  not  a  broken  bone,  nor  even  a  dis- 
location. It's  a  miracle.'  I  tried  to  say 
'underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms,'  but 
I  could  not  speak." 

The  words  were  very  faint  and  low.  She 
bent  close  to  catch  them,  then  stopped  them 
with  a  kiss,  a  paean  of  joy  in  her  heart.  He 
spoke  again:  "Auntie,  something  is  hurting 
me  very  much.  I  can't  move." 

"Do  not  try,  darling,  lie  quite  still.  I  will 
sit  beside  you  and  hold  your  hand." 

A  spasm  of  pain  passed  over  his  face,  and 
he  fell  again  into  unconsciousness.  But  she 
had  no  fear,  she  knew  that  death  had  been 
vanquished  by  the  knowledge  that  had  come 
to  her  of  life. 

A  low  knock  came  to  the  door.  She  opened 
it,  and  found  her  maid  there  with  a  cup  of 
tea.  She  took  it  from  her  saying:  "Tell 
them  all  he  lives,  and  he  will  live.  But  I 
wish  to  be  alone  with  him  for  the  present. 


106  A  Soldier's  Son 

No  one  is  to  trouble  about  me,  I  am  quite 
well." 

So  she  sat  down  again  beside  him,  waiting 
and  patiently  watching,  knowing  that  he 
would  awake  again  to  consciousness.  It  was 
nearly  noon  when  he  opened  his  eyes  and 
spoke  again.  His  voice  was  stronger: 

"Auntie,  was  it  a  waking  dream?  Was  I 
really  in  a  field,  and  a  bull  tossed  me?  I  am 
so  aching  all  over  me." 

"Yes,  darling." 

"I  think  I  remember  now,  Auntie.  Rose- 
bud and  Estelle  and  Sylvia  were  there,  and 
Jane  called  to  me,  'Run,  run!'  They  were 
not  hurt,  were  they?" 

"No,  darling,  not  one  of  them." 

"I  am  glad.  Error  is  telling  me  I  cannot 
move  my  legs  and  arms,  Auntie.  But  it 
is  not  true.  God's  child  cannot  be  bound  like 
that.  Does  Cousin  Alicia  know?" 

"I  am  sorry,  Carol.  I  fear  no  one  has 
thought  to  send  her  word." 

"Will  you  send  word  now,  Auntie — some- 
thing quicker  than  a  letter?" 

"A  telegram,  dear?" 

"  Yes,  Auntie,  and  put  in, '  Please  help  Carol  V 


A  Soldier's  Son  107 

"I  will  ask  Uncle  to  send  the  message  at 
once,  dear." 

When  she  opened  the  bedroom  door,  she 
found  Colonel  Mandeville  pacing  the  corridor 
without.  As  a  sentinel  he  had  kept  watch 
there  throughout  the  night  and  a  great  part 
of  the  morning.  He  came  into  the  room,  and 
stood  with  one  arm  around  his  wife,  looking 
down  at  Carol. 

"Well,  little  man,  so  we  are  going  to  cheat 
the  doctors?" 

Carol  didn't  at  all  know  what  'cheat' 
meant. 

"Carol  wishes  you  to  let  Miss  Desmond 
know,  dear.  Will  you  wire  at  once  ?  And  say 
in  the  message,  *  Please  help  Carol.'  She  will 
know  what  he  means." 

"I  will  gladly  do  so.  Dr.  Burton  is  down- 
stairs, Emmeline.  He  had  better  come  up 


now." 


An  expression  of  distress  came  over  Carol's 
face. 

"Auntie,"  he  said,  "don't  let  the  doctor 
do  anything  to  me,  please." 

"No  one  shall  touch  you,  dear.  But  I 
should  like  Dr.  Burton  just  to  see  you.  He 


io8  A  Soldier's  Son 

will  tell  me  what  I  may  give  you  to 
eat." 

"I  don't  want  anything,  Auntie,  only  some- 
thing to  drink." 

"Well,  dear,  he  will  tell  me  what  will  be 
best  for  you  to  have." 

"I  would  like  only  water,  please." 

"You  shall  have  some,  dear,  at  once,  and 
after  that  something  else,  I  hope." 

Dr.  Burton  came  to  the  room,  felt  the 
patient's  pulse,  took  his  temperature,  and 
looked  at  his  tongue,  but  mercifully  refrained 
from  turning  him  about,  to  examine  the 
bruises. 

"I  will  send  some  medicine  at  once,"  he 
said  to  Mrs.  Mandeville.  "Give  him  a  dose 
every  hour.  He  has  a  very  high  tempera- 
ture." 

Downstairs  he  told  Colonel  Mandeville: 
"He  may  pull  through  if  meningitis  does  not 
supervene." 

But  he  left  the  house  holding  a  very  strong 
belief  that  meningitis  would  supervene.  Not 
even  the  medicine,  which  was  to  be  given 
every  hour,  could  prevent  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  RECTOR'S  REFUSAL. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  remained  with  Carol 
throughout  the  day,  suffering  no  one  to  re- 
lieve her  for  one  hour.  As  soon  as  he  was 
told  the  telegram  had  been  sent  to  Miss 
Desmond,  he  rested  quite  satisfied.  But  as 
the  day  wore  on  to  evening,  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville, standing  over  him,  saw  he  was  suffering 
acutely. 

"You  are  in  pain,  darling,"  she  said. 

"Auntie,  please  don't  ask  me.  I  am  trying 
to  deny  it.  Couldn't  you  deny  it  for  me, 
too?"  ' 

His  lips  were  quivering;  tears  he  strove 
bravely  to  keep  back  were  stealing  down  his 
cheeks.  How  could  she  deny  it?  She  would 
have  given  anything  to  be  able  to  do  so. 

"Cousin  Alicia  must  have  had  the  tele- 
gram by  this,  Auntie,  mustn't  she?" 

"Yes,  dear;  I  think  so.  Being  Sunday, 
it  has  taken  longer  to  get  through.  Uncle 

109 


no  A  Soldier's  Son 

has  heard  from  the  postmaster  at  W — ,  the 
nearest  town,  as  the  village  telegraph  office 
would  be  closed.  The  message  has  been  sent 
on  by  messenger  on  horseback.  So  I  think 
Miss  Desmond  must  have  received  it  by  this 


time." 


"She  might  have  been  out  when  it  arrived, 
Auntie." 

"Do  you  expect  to  feel  less  pain,  dear, 
when  Miss  Desmond  receives  the  telegram?" 

"Yes,  Auntie,   I  know  I  shall." 

Seven  o'clock — eight  o'clock — nine  o'clock 
passed.  No  reply  telegram  came.  Mrs. 
Mandeville  wrote  a  letter  to  go  by  the  even- 
ing post,  giving  more  details,  and  describing 
Carol's  great  desire  to  have  a  message  from 
her.  Dr.  Burton  came  again  at  night.  His 
instructions  had  been  carried  out.  The  medi- 
cine sent  had  been  given  every  hour.  Still 
the  patient's  temperature  was  higher,  the 
pain  he  was  suffering  more  acute,  and  the 
symptoms  which  pointed  to  meningitis  more 
pronounced.  "If  he  could  sleep — a  long  nat- 
ural sleep  might  save  him,"  Dr.  Burton  said. 

During  the  night  Mrs.  Mandeville  was 
persuaded  to  take  a  little  rest  on  a  couch  in 


A  Soldier's  Son  in 

the  room,  whilst  Nurse  and  Colonel  Mande- 
ville  kept  watch  beside  the  bed.  Carol 
offered  no  opposition  to  anything  that  was 
done  for  him,  and  drank  the  medicine  without 
a  murmur,  when  the  spoon  was  put  to  his 
lips. 

In  the  morning,  when  Mrs.  Mandeville 
was  again  alone  with  him,  he  said,  "Auntie, 
I  wonder  why  it  hurts  me  to  try  to  think. 
I  tried  so  hard  to  go  to  sleep  in  the  night  and 
I  could  not.  Then  I  began  to  think  about 
Jesus  when  he  was  a  little  boy.  We  are  not 
told  that  he  was  ever  ill,  and  had  to  lie  in 
bed,  are  we  ?  But  I  felt  quite  sure,  if  he  ever 
did,  he  would  do  just  what  his  mother  wanted 
him  to  do,  wouldn't  he?  I  know  medicine 
and  the  bandages  are  not  doing  me  any 
good,  but  it  makes  you  happy  for  me  to 
have  them,  doesn't  it,  Auntie?" 

"Yes,  darling;  it  seems  all  that  we  can 
do  for  you." 

"If  you  understood  Science,  you  could 
help  me  now,  Auntie." 

"Indeed  then,  I  wish  that  I  did,  Carol." 

"Sometimes  the  room  seems  to  go  dark, 
Auntie.  In  the  night,  two  or  three  times, 


112  A  Soldier's  Son 

it  was  just  as  if  the  lamp  went  out,  then 
lighted  up  again."  Mrs.  Mandeville  under- 
stood enough  to  know  this  was  very  grave. 

"Darling,  will  you  try  to  lie  quite  still, 
and  close  your  eyes — try  not  to  think  about 
anything?" 

"Yes,  Auntie,  but  I  do  hope  a  message  will 
come  from  Cousin  Alicia  to-day.  You  will 
tell  me  when  it  comes,  won't  you  ? " 

"Instantly,  dear." 

"I  wish  I  could  go  to  sleep,  Auntie." 

"I  wish  so  too,  my  poor,  dear  boy." 

"Could  you  move  me  a  tiny  bit,  Auntie? 
I  ache  so  lying  in  the  same  position.  It  seems 
so  strange  not  to  be  able  to  move  myself  at 
all.  Error  seems  very  real." 

Gently  and  lovingly,  she  tried  to  ease  his 
position,  but  the  least  touch  brought  an  ex- 
pression of  acute  pain.  She  had  to  desist. 

The  long  weary  hours  of  that  day  passed, 
but  no  message,  either  a  telegram  or  letter, 
came  from  Miss  Desmond.  Another  wire  was 
sent,  asking  for  a  reply.  Still  none  came. 
Then,  later  on  in  the  evening,  a  message  was 
sent  addressed  to  the  housekeeper  at  Willmar 
Court,  which  quickly  brought  a  reply:  "Miss 


A  Soldier's  Son  113 

Desmond  away.  Impossible  to  forward  mes- 
sages." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  told  Carol  very  gently. 
He  did  not  speak  for  some  time,  and,  though 
he  lay  with  closed  eyes,  she  knew  he  was 
not  sleeping. 

Then  he  looked  up  at  her: 

"Auntie,  when  Jesus  was  in  the  boat,  and 
the  winds  arose,  and  the  waves  surged  high 
around  the  little  boat,  Jesus  didn't  command 
them  at  once  to  be  still.  The  disciples  had  to 
awake  him,  and  he  rebuked  them  for  their 
little  faith.  Shouldn't  they  have  waited  pa- 
tiently, knowing  it  was  all  right?  Sometimes 
it  seems  error  has  bound  me  with  ropes,  and 
I  cannot  move;  sometimes  it  seems  like 
waves  washing  over  me.  But  I  know  that 
Love  is  saying  to  error's  angry  waves,  'Thus 
far,  and  no  farther.'  And  just  at  the  right 
moment  the  command  will  come:  'Peace, 
be  still?" 

Mrs.  Mandeville  hid  her  face  in  the  pillow 
beside  him,  that  he  might  not  see  the  tears 
streaming  from  her  eyes.  She  had  lost  again 
the  faith  which  for  a  time  had  uplifted  her  to 
a  realization  of  God's  power  to  save  the  boy 


j  14  A  Soldier's  Son 

from  death.  In  imagination  she  saw  a  new 
little  grave  in  the  churchyard  with  that 
word  "Peace"  graven  in  the  marble  head- 
stone. She  had  been  anxious  for  news  from 
Miss  Desmond  because  Carol  wished  it  so 
much.  She  had  little  hope  or  faith  that  in- 
juries, such  as  his,  could  in  any  way  be  alle- 
viated by  Miss  Desmond's  knowledge  of 
Christian  Science.  The  night  passed  again, 
and  not  for  one  hour  did  sleep  close  the  suffer- 
ing boy's  eyes.  He  had  been  unconscious  for 
a  time,  murmuring  incoherently;  but  it  was 
not  sleep. 

Dr.  Burton  said  very  little  when  he  came 
in  the  morning;  he  only  looked  graver  and 
sadder.  By  telegram  he  had  been  in  constant 
communication  with  Sir  Wilfrid  Wynne,  and 
he  knew  that,  humanly  speaking,  nothing 
more  could  be  done  for  the  boy  than  was 
being  done.  Yet  there  was  no  progress. 

"How  I  wish  there  was  something  I  could  do 
for  you,  Carol!"  Mrs.  Mandeville  said,  as  she 
sat  beside  him. 

"Auntie,  there  is  something,  if  Uncle  Ray- 
mond will  let  you  have  it.  I  know  I  should 
fall  askep  if  you  read  Science  and  Health 


A  Soldier's  Son  115 

to  me.  I  always  used  to  when  I  was  ill  before, 
and  Cousin  Alicia  read  it  to  me,  even  before 
I  began  to  understand  it." 

"I  will  go  to  the  rectory  at  once,  dear,  and 
ask  Uncle  for  the  book.  Promise  me  to  lie 
with  closed  eyes;  and  try  not  even  to  think 
about  anything  whilst  I  am  away." 

She  would  not  write,  nor  send  a  message, 
fearing  a  refusal.  As  soon  as  Nurse  came  to 
take  her  place  she  left  the  room,  and  the  house. 
There  was  a  path  through  the  park  direct  to 
the  rectory.  It  was  less  than  ten  minutes' 
walk. 

The  Rector  looked  up  in  astonishment  as 
his  sister,  hatless  and  coatless  (it  was  a  chilly 
September  day),  entered  the  room.  "What  is 
it,  Emmeline?  Is  Carol  worse?"  he  asked. 
Her  flushed,  distressed  face  suggested  the 
question. 

"I  do  not  know  if  he  is  worse.  He  is  just 
as  ill  as  he  can  be,  and  is  suffering  cruelly. 
I  want  you  to  let  me  have  that  book  you  took 
from  him,  Raymond,  Science  and  Health. 
He  thinks  if  I  read  it  to  him  he  will  fall  asleep. 
He  has  not  slept  yet,  and  this  is  the  third  day 
since  the  accident."  The  Rector's  face,  which 


Ii6  A  Soldier's  Son 

before  had  been  grave  and  kindly,  now  grew 
stern  and  resolute.  "I  am  sorry,  Emmeline, 
but  I  cannot  let  you  have  it.  That  book 
will  never  pass  from  my  hands  to  his  as  long 
as  I  am  his  guardian.  He  knows  too  much 
already  of  its  pernicious  doctrines.  Better 
better — anything  than  that  his  faith  in  its 
teachings  should  be  strengthened." 

"Do  you  mean  better  that  he  should  die, 
Raymond?" 

"Yes,  Emmeline,  better  that — even  that." 

"Oh,  Raymond,  how  can  you  hold  such  a 
thought?  I  do  not  know  what  the  book  is 
nor  what  it  teaches.  But  I  do  know  what  is 
the  fruit  of  it;  and  who  was  it  said,  *A  tree 
is  known  by  its  fruit;  a  corrupt  tree  cannot 
bring  forth  good  fruit'?" 

"We  need  not  discuss  that,  Emmeline. 
We  both  know  whose  words  those  are.  Still, 
I  maintain  that  the  teachings  of  that  book, 
being  pernicious,  cannot  bring  forth  good 
fruit." 

"But,  Raymond,  is  not  gentleness,  faith 
and  love — such  as  Carol's — good  fruit? 
Jesus  to  him  did  not  live  two  thousand  years 
ago.  He  is  living  to-day.  He  is  looking  to 


A  Soldier's  Son  117 

him,  as  the  disciples  looked,  when  the  storm 
arose  at  sea.  His  love  and  his  faith  are  beau- 
tiful to  witness.  I  have  always  tried  to  teach 
my  children  the  love  of  God,  but  Carol 
possesses  something  I  have  not  been  able  to 
give  them,  because  I  do  not  possess  it  my- 
self. I  think  it  is  understanding.  He  seems 
to  understand  the  Bible  much  better  than 
I  do." 

"I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  speak  like  this, 
Emmeline.  In  any  difficulty  why  do  you  not 
come  to  me?  Surely  there  are  books  enough 
here  to  explain,  or  to  throw  a  light  on  any- 
thing that  is  not  clear  to  you." 

The  Rector  looked  round  at  his  well-filled 
book-shelves:  old  books  and  new  books; 
works  of  the  early  Fathers  and  the  latest 
theological  treatise. 

"I  cannot  explain  what  it  is  I  want,  Ray- 
mond. I  only  know  I  always  seem  to  be 
groping  after  something,  and  I  cannot  find 
it.  But  when  I  am  talking  to  Carol,  I  seem 
nearer  to  it.  Raymond,  won't  you  let  me 
have  that  book — just  for  to-day — I  will 
return  it  to  you  to-morrow?" 

"No,  Emmeline.     Not  for  one  hour." 


Ii8  A  Soldier's  Son 

"You  are  cruel,  Raymond,  when  the  boy 
is  suffering  so,  and  it  is  all  he  asks  you.  If 
there  were  a  shop  near  where  I  could  buy 
a  copy,  I  would  straightway  do  so.  I  will 
know  for  myself  what  the  book  teaches.  I 
shall  write  to  Miss  Desmond,  and  ask  her  to 
get  me  a  copy." 

"Of  course,  Emmeline,  if  you  choose  to  do 
that,  I  have  no  control  over  your  actions. 
I  have  over  Carol's,  and  I  shall  exercise  it." 

Then  Mrs.  Mandeville  broke  down  and 
burst  into  tears.  "Perhaps  you  won't  have 
power  long.  Oh,  Raymond!  You  do  not 
realize  how  ill  he  is!  If  meningitis  sets  in, 
Dr.  Burton  says  it  will  be  a  matter  of  only  a 
few  hours.  If  I  were  asking  for  a  Buddhist 
or  a  Mohammedan  book,  it  would  be  right 
for  you  to  let  me  have  it." 

"No,  my  dear  sister.  I  am  not  a  believer 
in  the  doctrine  that  the  end  justifies  the  means. 
I  will  pray  for  Carol,  and  for  you  too.  I  am 
sorry  to  see  you  so  overwrought." 

"Then  you  absolutely  refuse,  Raymond?" 

"I  do,  Emmeline — absolutely." 

Without  a  word  Mrs.  Mandeville  turned 
and  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"HE    GIVETH    HIS    BELOVED    SLEEP." 

Softly  and  lightly  as  Mrs.  Mandeville  re- 
entered  Carol's  room,  he  heard  her.  He 
had  been  listening  for  her  footsteps,  whilst 
obedient  to  her  desire,  lying  with  closed  eye- 
lids. 

She  was  spared  the  pain  of  telling  him  she 
had  been  unsuccessful.  He  read  it  in  her  face. 

"Auntie,  dear,  please  don't  look  so  troubled. 
Uncle  Raymond  does  not  understand.  It  is 
quite  all  right.  Love  can  always  find  a  way." 
Mrs.  Mandeville  almost  smiled  through  her 
unshed  tears.  How  great  was  her  love  for  the 
boy,  yet  she  could  think  of  no  way  by  which 
what  he  wanted  could  be  immediately  pro- 
cured. Even  she  did  not  fully  realize  how  he 
was  waiting  and  yearning  for  that  healing 
touch,  which  comes 

'More  softly  than  the  dew  is  shed 
Or  cloud  is  floated  overhead.' 

119 


I2O  A  Soldier '  s  Son 

Nurse  left  the  room,  and  Mrs.  Mandeville 
again  took  her  place  by  the  bedside. 

In  less  than  an  hour  a  maid  came  to  the 
bedroom  door,  asking  in  a  whisper,  "Can 
I  speak  to  you  a  moment,  ma'am?" 

"What  is  it,  Withers?"  Mrs.  Mandeville 
asked. 

"A  Mr.  Higgs  from  the  village  is  down- 
stairs. He  came  to  inquire  after  Master 
Carol.  He  said  he  would  like  the  young 
gentleman  to  know  he  has  walked  from  the 
village  to  the  Manor." 

The  words  were  spoken  at  the  door  very 
softly,  but  Carol  heard. 

"  Oh,  Auntie,  I  am  glad ! "  he  said.  "  Could 
Mr.  Higgs  come  here  ?  I  should  like  to  speak 
to  him." 

"Darling,  I  am  afraid  it  will  excite  you  to 
see  him.  The  doctor's  orders  are  that  you 
are  to  be  kept  perfectly  quiet." 

"It  won't  excite  me,  Auntie;  and  what 
makes  me  very  happy  cannot  hurt  me." 

"You  may  bring  Mr.  Higgs  to  see  Master 
Carol  since  he  wishes  it  so  much,  Withers." 

No  one  but  those  who  were  nursing  him  had 
been  admitted  to  the  room.  The  maid  was 


A  Soldier's  Son  121 

surprised  as  she  took  the  message,  and  then 
brought  the  old  man  to  the  room. 

"God  bless  'ee,  Master  Carol,  God  bless 
Jee.  Aye,  I  don't  know  how  to  say  it  often 
enough,  when  I  think  it's  all  along  o'  the 
blessed  truth  you  taught  me  I'm  free  of  the 
rheumatiz.  I  met  Farmer  Stubbins  on  my 
way,  and  he  says,  'Why,  Higgs,  you're  walk- 
ing along  quite  spry.  What's  become  o*  your 
rheumatiz?'  'Gone,  thank  the  Lord,'  says 
I,  'never  to  return.'  'Oh!  and  what  may  you 
have  done  to  get  rid  of  it?'  he  asks,  being 
crippled  himself  with  the  same.  'I  ain't 
done  nothing,'  I  replied.  Then  I  says, 
'Farmer  Stubbins,  you  and  me  was  boys  to- 
gether, and  we  sang  in  the  village  choir.  Do 
you  mind  there's  a  verse  in  the  Psalms — 
aye,  we've  sung  it  many  a  time;  but  we  just 
didn't  think  o'  the  words — it  was  the  music 
we  thought  about.  "He  sent  His  word  and 
healed  them."  That's  just  what  the  Lord 
has  done.  He  has  sent  His  word  and  healed 
me,  and  He  sent  it  by  the  mouth  of  one  of 
His  dear  children." 

Carol's  face  was  radiant  with  joy.  Anx- 
iously watching  him,  Mrs.  Mandeville  could 


122  A  Soldier's  Son 

not  fear  that  the  old  man's  talk  could  harm 
him. 

Then,  after  fumbling  in  his  coat  pocket,  he 
drew  forth  a  little  book  carefully  folded  in 
soft  paper. 

"I've  got  it,  Master  Carol.  It  came  this 
morning — the  little  book  you've  told  me 
about.  My  daughter  wrote  for  me.  We 
didn't  quite  know  where  to  write,  so  we  just 
addressed  the  letter:  'Christian  Science 
Church,  London,'  and  a  kind  lady  has  sent  me 
this  book.  It  isn't  quite  new,  and  she  writes 
that  I  shall  value  it  more  if  it  costs  me  some- 
thing. I  am  just  to  pay  what  I  can,  and 
send  the  money  as  I  am  able." 

He  was  unfolding  the  paper  covering  as  he 
spoke,  and  then  held  out  a  small  copy  of 
Science  and  Health. 

"Oh,  Auntie,  isn't  Love  beautiful!  You 
see  Love  has  found  a  way.  Mr.  Higgs  will 
lend  it  to  you  to  read  to  me  a  little  time — 
won't  you,  Mr.  Higgs?" 

"I'll  be  very  happy  to,  Master  Carol." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  took  the  book  with  almost 
a  feeling  of  awe.  It  had  come  so  wonderfully, 


A  Soldier's  Son  123 

yet  so  simply.     She  thought  of  the  words: 
"He  sent  His  angel." 

She  pointed  to  a  chair,  saying,  "Please 
be  seated,  Mr.  Higgs,  whilst  I  read.  Is 
there  any  particular  part  you  would  like  me 
to  read,  Carol?"  she  asked,  turning  over  the 
pages. 

"No,  Auntie — just  open  the  book;  let  Love 
find  the  place." 

"Carol,  you  so  frequently  speak  of  Love 
as  of  a  personality.  What  do  you  mean, 
dear?" 

"Auntie,  God  is  Love.  But  when  we  speak 
of  God,  it  seems  we  must  bow  our  head,  and 
think  reverently  of  the  great  'I  Am.'  But 
when  we  speak  of  Love — we  can  just  creep 
into  Love's  arms,  and  ask  Love  anything." 

"Even  to  find  a  place  in  a  book,"  Mrs. 
Mandeville  said  with  a  smile. 
"Yes,  Auntie — even  that." 

Then  she  opened  the  book.  It  opened  at 
page  494,  and  the  first  sentence  she  read  was : 
"Divine  Love  always  has  met  and  always 
will  meet  every  human  need." 

A  smile  rested  on  the  boy's  face,  his  suffer- 
ings were  forgotten,  as  the  dear  familiar 


124  A  Soldier's  Son 

words  fell  on  his  ear.    Love  had  not  failed  him. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  never  knew  afterwards 
how  long  she  read.  She  became  entranced, 
absorbed. 

When  she  turned  to  look  at  him,  he  was 
asleep.  She  quietly  rose,  and  with  one 
whispered  word  asked  Mr.  Higgs  to  follow  her. 

Withers  was  still  waiting  without. 

"Take  Mr.  Higgs  to  the  housekeeper's 
room,  Withers,  and  ask  her  to  give  him  a 
substantial  tea.  Then  send  word  to  the 
stables — when  he  is  ready — I  wish  Parker  to 
drive  him  to  his  home  in  my  basket  chaise. 
It  is  only  a  step  from  the  ground.  You  will 
easily  get  in  and  out.  I  am  deeply  indebted 
to  you  for  coming  this  afternoon,  Mr.  Higgs. 
My  dear  boy  needed  sleep  so  much.  It  was 
vitally  necessary  for  him.  He  was  so  sure  he 
would  sleep,  if  I  could  read  Science  and  Health 
to  him,  and  I  did  not  know  how  to  procure  a 
copy  of  the  book." 

"May  I  leave  this  with  you,  ma'am?" 

"If  you  will  be  so  kind  for  a  day  or  two." 

"Isn't  Love  beautiful!"  the  old  man  said 
to  himself,  repeating  Carol's  words,  as  he  fol- 
lowed the  maid  to  the  housekeeper's  room. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LETTERS   AND   TELEGRAMS    REACH    COUSIN 
ALICIA. 

Carol's  sleep  lasted  two  hours.  Then  he 
awoke,  with  something  of  his  old  bright  smile. 
Mrs.  Mandeville  was  still  watching  beside 
him. 

"Auntie,  I  have  been  asleep." 

"Yes,  darling,  I  know.  I  have  been  watch- 
ing you.  It  was  a  beautiful  sleep.  I  thought 
as  I  sat  beside  you  of  the  words,  'He  giveth 
His  beloved  sleep.'  I  am  sure  you  are  better 
for  it." 

"Yes,  Auntie,  it  was  lovely,  and  my  back 
doesn't  hurt  me  quite  so  much.  But  I  cannot 
move  my  legs  yet." 

"Do  not  try,  dear." 

"Did  I  dream  it,  Auntie,  or  were  you  read- 
ing Science  and  Health  to  me?" 

"It  was  not  a  dream,  dear.  Mr.  Higgs 
came  and  brought  the  book,  and  he  has  left 
it  with  me." 


126  A  Soldier's  Son 

"I  remember  now,  Auntie.  Was  it  not 
nice  of  him  to  come?  Has  any  message  come 
yet  from  Cousin  Alicia?" 

"No,  love;  I  cannot  understand  why  the 
letters  and  telegrams  are  not  forwarded  to 
her." 

"There  is  some  reason,  I  know,  Auntie. 
We  shall  understand  by  and  by."  She  gave 
him  some  soda  and  milk,  which  was  all  the 
doctor  would  let  him  have. 

"I  should  like  to  see  Rosebud,  Auntie. 
Couldn't  she  come  for  a  little  while?" 

Mrs.  Mandeville  had  already  admitted 
one  visitor  against  orders.  Dare  she  act  on 
her  own  responsibility  a  second  time?  She 
began  to  realize  how  much  the  doctor's  fears 
of  developments,  which  might  or  might  not 
follow,  were  influencing  her,  though,  happily, 
she  was  not  able  to  influence  Carol.  He  had 
no  fear. 

"I  think  it  must  be  almost  Rosebud's 
bedtime,  dear;  but  she  shall  come  for  a  few 
minutes." 

After  sending  a  message  to  the  nursery  for 
Rosebud,  her  eye  fell  on  the  medicine  bottle. 
"Oh,  Carol,  I  didn't  give  you  your  medicine 


A  Soldier's  Son  127 

this  afternoon.  It  was  just  time  for  it  when 
Mr.  Higgs  came,  and  afterwards  you  were 
asleep.  It  is  time  again  for  it  now.  I  see 
it  must  be  fresh  medicine;  it  is  a  different 
color." 

"Auntie,  Mr.  Higgs  was  my  doctor,  this 
afternoon.  The  medicine  he  brought  sent 
me  to  sleep,  and  I  do  not  ache  quite  so  much. 
Must  I  take  this  drug  medicine  as  well?" 

Mrs.  Mandeville  had  poured  out  a  dose, 
and  now  held  the  glass  in  her  hand. 

"You  are  right,  Carol.  I  can  see  a  decided 
improvement.  I  will  not  ask  you  to  drink 
this." 

She  emptied  the  contents  of  the  glass 
away.  A  few  minutes  afterwards  Rosebud's 
sweet  voice  was  piping  at  the  door: 

"Me's  'tome  to  see  Tarol." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  lifted  her  up  to  kiss 
Carol,  very  carefully  guarding  her  from  touch- 
ing him  anywhere. 

"You  must  only  kiss  Carol,  darling."  The 
little  arms  were  about  to  twine  themselves 
around  him.  "Me  does  'ove  'ou,  Tarol,  so 
welly  much." 

The   boy   would   have   liked   to   hold   her 


128  A  Soldier's  Son 

closely  to  him,  but  he  could  not  raise  an 
arm. 

"It  does  make  me  so  happy  to  see  Rose- 
bud again,  Auntie.  Perhaps  to-morrow  I 
shall  be  able  to  see  all  my  cousins." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  did  not  say,  but  she 
thought  it  would  be  many  "to-morrows" 
before  he  would  be  strong  enough  to  receive 
them  all  in  his  room. 

"Now  run  back  to  the  nursery,  darling," 
she  said  to  the  wee  girlie. 

"Take  a  good-night  kiss  to  Sylvia  and  Es- 
telle,  will  you  Rosebud?"  Carol  said.  Then 
she  had  to  be  lifted  up  again  to  receive  a 
kiss  for  "eberybody." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  sat  silent  by  the  bedside 
for  some  time  after  Rosebud  left  the  room. 
Then  she  said  in  a  very  low,  soft  voice,  "Do 
you  remember,  Carol,  coming  to  my  room 
one  day  when  I  lay  prostrate  with  one  of  my 
bad  headaches?" 

"Yes,  Auntie;   I  remember  quite  well." 

"I  was  very  ungrateful,  Carol,  I  would  not 
let  myself  acknowledge  it  was  your  little 
prayer  that  took  it  away.  Yet  I  knew  it 


A  Soldier's  Son  129 

was,  for  I  had  never  lost  a  headache  like  that 
before." 

"Yes,  Auntie,  I  knew  Christian  Science 
had  helped  you.  But  I  thought  you  did  not 
understand." 

She  kissed  him  very  tenderly.  "I  am  not 
ungrateful  any  longer,  dear.  I  acknowledge 
the  debt.  Now  I  must  not  let  you  talk  any 
more  or  Dr.  Burton  will  insist  upon  having  a 
trained  nurse.  He  has  suggested  it  several 
times." 

"He  couldn't  keep  you  away  from  me, 
could  he,  Auntie?" 

"I  think  he  would  find  it  a  trifle  difficult, 
dear." 

"But  I  want  you  to  go  downstairs  to  din- 
ner to-night,  Auntie.  Uncle  will  like  to  have 
you,  and  Nurse  will  stay  with  me." 

"  Perhaps  I  will  go  then,  for  an  hour,  dear." 

So,  later  on,  to  everyone's  surprise  Mrs. 
Mandeville  appeared  at  the  dinner  table,  and 
was  so  bright  they  all  knew,  without  asking, 
that  Carol  was  improving,  though  he  had 
not  been  pronounced  out  of  danger. 

Nurse  was  quietly  making  all  the  needful 
little  preparations  for  the  night  when  Carol 


130  A  Soldier's  Son 

asked  her  to  place  the  clock  where  he  could 
see  it  as  he  lay  in  bed. 

"The  nights  seem  so  long  when  I  cannot 
sleep,  Nurse.  I  like  to  watch  the  fingers  of 
the  clock,  then  I  know  how  long  it  will  be 
before  the  light  can  peep  through  the  cur- 
tains." 

Nurse  found  a  position  where  he  could  see 
it  quite  well,  even  though  he  could  not  raise 
his  head  from  the  pillows.  Then,  standing 
over  him,  she  said:  "Dearie,  you  are  in 
pain.  Couldn't  I  ease  your  position  just  a 
little?" 

"No,  Nurse,  please  don't  touch  me,  the 
bruises  seem  so  real.  I  ought  to  be  able  to 
deny  them,  and  I  cannot." 

"And  would  it  make  them  better  to  deny 
them,  Master  Carol?" 

"Oh,  yes,  Nurse.  You  are  thinking  the 
bruises  are  very  sore  and  painful,  are  you 
not?" 

Yes,  Nurse  was  decidedly  dwelling  in 
thought  upon  the  pain  the  boy  must  be  suf- 
fering from  such  a  bruised  condition. 

"If  you  could  think,  Nurse,  that  there  is 
no  sensation  in  matter,  that  the  pain  is  all 


A  Soldier's  Son  131 

in  mind:  in  my  mind  and  your  mind,  and 
Auntie's  and  the  doctor's.  You  are  all 
thinking  how  I  must  be  suffering.  If  only 
someone  would  help  me  to  deny  it!" 

"I  wish  I  could,  Master  Carol." 

But  it  was  double  Dutch  to  Nurse  to  try 
to  understand  that  the  pain  was  in  mind,  and 
not  in  the  poor  bruised  body. 

It  was  half-past  nine  when  she  moved  the 
time-piece  so  that  Carol  could  see  it,  and  he 
at  once  began  to  count  how  many  hours  it 
would  be  till  morning.  At  ten  o'clock  Mrs. 
Mandeville  returned  to  the  room,  followed  by 
Dr.  Burton.  Nurse  held  up  a  warning  finger 
as  they  entered:  the  boy  was  asleep. 

"This  is  splendid !  How  long  has  he  slept ? " 
the  doctor  asked. 

"It  was  just  after  half-past  nine,  sir.  He 
seemed  in  great  pain,  I  thought  there  was  no 
hope  of  sleep  for  him,  and  all  at  once  he  just 
dropped  off  without  a  word." 

It  was  such  a  beautiful  sleep,  calm,  peace- 
ful, untroubled  by  fret  or  moan.  Mrs.  Man- 
deville and  the  doctor  watched  beside  him 
an  hour;  then  the  doctor  left,  and  Mrs. 
Mandeville  was  persuaded  to  go  to  her  own 


132  A  Soldier's  Son 

room  for  a  night's  rest,  leaving  Nurse  in 
charge.  They  did  not  know,  nor  could  they 
have  understood  had  they  known,  how,  far 
away,  a  woman,  'clad  in  the  whole  armour  of 
God,'  was  fighting  for  him:  fighting  error 
with  'the  sword  of  the  Spirit.' 

Letters  and  telegrams  had  at  last  reached 
Cousin  Alicia. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"IT    IS    A   MIRACLE." 

The  next  morning  about  eight  o'clock, 
Nurse  came  to  Mrs.  Mandeville's  room,  an 
expression  of  amazement,  almost  of  conster- 
nation, on  her  face. 

"What  is  it,  Nurse?  Is  Master  Carol 
worse?"  Mrs.  Mandeville  asked  in  alarm. 

"No,  ma'am;  I  cannot  say  he  is  worse.  He 
says  he  is  well,  and  wants  to  get  up  for  break- 
fast. He  slept  all  through  the  night,  just  as 
you  left  him,  and  never  wakened  till  half-past 
seven  this  morning.  He  is  certainly  not  fe- 
verish or  delirious,  but  he  talks  so  strangely. 
He  says  error  has  all  gone,  and  he  is  free.  I 
had  quite  a  difficulty  to  prevent  him  from 
getting  out  of  bed  to  come  to  you.  I  have 
sent  a  messenger  for  Dr.  Burton." 

"That  is  right,  Nurse.  Go  back  to  him. 
I  will  come  at  once."  Mrs.  Mandeville  was 
not  long  slipping  into  a  morning  wrap,  and 
following  Nurse  to  Carol's  room. 

133 


134  -d  Soldier's  Son 

As  soon  as  she  reached  the  bedside,  he 
sprang  up,  and  held  her  in  a  close  embrace, 
both  arms  round  her  neck.  "Auntie,  Auntie, 
isn't  it  beautiful  ?  I  am  free !  Error  has  quite 
gone.  I  know  Cousin  Alicia  has  had  the  tele- 
grams now.  You  can  rub  your  hand  down 
my  back.  It  does  not  hurt  me  now,  nor 
the  bruises." 

"Carol,  dear,  I  cannot  understand  it.  It 
seems  so  wonderful.  I  am  afraid  you  ought 
not  to  be  sitting  up  like  this." 

"Oh,  Auntie,  there  is  nothing  to  be  afraid 
about.  Error  cast  out  cannot  come  back 
again.  I  am  so  hungry.  I  do  want  to  get 
up  to  breakfast." 

"Darling,  you  must  lie  still  until  Dr.  Bur- 
ton has  seen  you.  I  could  not  consent  for 
you  to  get  up  yet.  It  does  indeed  seem  beau- 
tiful for  you  to  be  so  much  better,  I  cannot 
realize  it,  and  I  cannot  understand,  Carol, 
why  Miss  Desmond's  prayers  for  you  should 
be  so  quickly  answered,  when  I  am  sure  I  love 
you  just  as  dearly.  I  prayed  for  you,  and 
Uncle  Raymond  prayed,  yet — yet  I  cannot 
feel  that  our  prayers  helped  you." 

She  had  tenderly  laid  him  back  upon  the 


A  Soldier  's  Son 


pillow.  She  could  not  get  rid  of  the  fear  that 
it  was  not  good  for  him  to  be  using  his  back. 

He  was  silent  a  few  minutes,  the  old 
thoughtful  expression  on  his  face  which  she 
knew  so  well.  Then  he  said: 

"Auntie,  the  sun  was  shining  this  morning 
long  before  Nurse  drew  aside  the  curtains, 
and  let  the  light  into  my  room.  Suppose 
while  the  curtain  was  drawn  I  had  kept  say- 
ing, 'Please,  dear  sun,  do  shine  into  my  room, 
and  send  the  darkness  away.'  It  would  have 
had  no  effect.  It  would  have  been  foolish, 
wouldn't  it?  Well,  Auntie,  the  light  of 
Truth,  like  the  sunlight  is  everywhere,  but 
we  can  shut  it  out  of  our  consciousness  by 
a  curtain  of  false  beliefs.  Cousin  Alicia  has 
not  asked  God  to  make  me  better.  She  has 
just  known  that  God's  child  is  always  perfect. 
As  Nurse  drew  aside  the  curtain  to  let  in  the 
sunlight,  she  has  drawn  aside  the  curtain  of 
false  beliefs  that  were  around  me,  and  then 
Truth  came  and  healed  me.  Jesus  said  'the 
Truth  shall  make  you  free.'  It  is  just  as  true, 
Auntie,  as  if  he  had  said,  'When  light  appears, 
darkness  disappears.'  Wherever  Truth  ap- 
pears, error  shall  flee  away,  because  it  is  not 


136  A  Soldier's  Son 

from  God.  It  is  the  opposite  of  God's  law. 
I  love  that  beautiful  verse  of  the  hymn  more 
than  I  have  ever  loved  it,  because  I  can  say 
again: 

'The  healing  of  the  seamless  dress 
Is  by  our  beds  of  pain.' 

Christ  is  Truth,  and  Truth  is  the  Christ. 
I  was  asleep  when  he  came  to  me.  But 
just  as  Jesus  spoke  to  the  angry  waves  the 
Christ  has  commanded  error,  '  Peace,  be  still.' 
Oh,  Auntie!  cannot  you  believe  I  am  quite 
well?  *I  am  the  Father's  perfect  child.  I 
have  the  gift  from  God,  dominion  over  all." 

She  was  longing  to  realize  that  it  was  as 
the  boy  said,  and  she  had  nothing  to  fear. 
Yet  it  was  difficult. 

Dr.  Burton  was  out  when  the  messen- 
ger from  the  Manor  went  for  him.  He  had 
not  returned  from  a  night  case  to  which  he 
had  been  summoned.  Mrs.  Burton  prom- 
ised that  he  would  go  immediately  on  his 
return.  Shortly  after  ten  o'clock  Dr.  Bur- 
ton arrived,  expecting  to  find  from  the  ur- 
gent message  that  had  reached  him  a  change 
for  the  worse  in  his  patient.  He  was  con- 


A  Soldier's  Son  137 

siderably  taken  aback  as  he  entered  the 
room  to  hear  a  ripple  of  laughter,  and  the 
boy  with  a  radiant  face,  sitting  upright  in 
bed,  who,  the  day  before,  had  not  been  able 
to  raise  his  head  from  the  pillow. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  Dr.  Burton 
asked  in  a  tone  of  voice  in  which  surprise 
became  almost  consternation. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  anything,  Doctor,  except 
that  Carol  slept  all  night  and  woke  this 
morning  feeling  quite  well  and  hungry.  He 
has  had  a  fairly  substantial  breakfast,"  Mrs. 
Mandeville  said.  The  doctor  then  thor- 
oughly examined  him,  felt  his  pulse,  took  his 
temperature,  and  when  he  looked  on  the 
places  where  the  terrible  bruises  had  been, 
and  saw  only  a  faint  discoloration,  he  said: 

"It  is  a  miracle  1" 

"No,  Doctor,"  said  Carol,  quietly,  "it  is 
Christian  Science." 

"Then  what  is  Christian  Science?"  the 
doctor  asked. 

But  the  boy  was  silent.  He  could  talk  to 
his  aunt  on  the  subject,  but  not  to  the 
doctor. 

At  that  moment  a  maid  brought  a  tele- 


138  A  Soldier's  Son 

gram  to  Mrs.  Mandeville.  It  was  from  Miss 
Desmond.  She  read  it,  and  passed  it  on 
to  Dr.  Burton.  It  was  brief:  "Letters  and 
telegrams  reached  me  9.30  last  evening. 
Regret  unavoidable  delay.  Kindly  wire  if 
all  is  well.  Letter  to  Carol  follows."  The 
doctor  and  Mrs.  Mandeville  simply  looked 
at  each  other  in  speechless  wonderment,  one 
thought  engrossing  them.  It  was  shortly 
after  9.30  the  night  before  that  Carol  fell  into 
the  sleep  from  which  he  had  awakened  well. 

"It  is  at  last  a  message  from  Cousin 
Alicia,"  Mrs.  Mandeville  then  said  to  Carol. 
"Our  letters  and  telegrams  did  not  reach  her 
till  9.30  last  evening." 

"Yes,  Auntie,  I  knew  it,  and  I  know  she 
has  worked  for  me  all  night." 

Both  Mrs.  Mandeville  and  the  doctor  would 
have  liked  to  understand  what  the  boy  meant 
by  that  one  word  "worked."  But  neither 
questioned  him  then. 

"I  can  get  up  now,  Doctor,  cannot  I?" 
Carol  asked. 

"Yes,  there  is  no  reason  that  I  can  see  for 
keeping  you  in  bed.  All  the  same,"  turning 
to  Mrs.  Mandeville,  "I  should  say  he  may  as 


A  Soldier's  Son  139 

well  be  kept  fairly  quiet  for  a  day  or  two — 
not  commence  running  races,  or  any  other 
juvenile  sports." 

"You  can  trust  me,  Doctor,"  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville  remarked,  smiling. 

"It  seems  to  me  you  should  consult  the 
lady  who  has  worked  for  him  all  night  with 
such  marvellous  success.  I  can  scarcely  con- 
sider him  my  patient  now." 

"Doctor,  I  thank  you  very  much  for  all 
you  tried  to  do  for  me.  You  were  very  kind 
and  gentle  to  me." 

"Tut-tut,  boy!    Why,  that's  of  course." 

All  the  same  the  doctor  was  pleased  with 
the  boy's  simple  recognition  of  his  services. 
He  would  indeed  have  done  more,  had  he 
been  able.  He  walked  home  slowly  and 
thoughtfully,  pondering  that  question,  which 
he  had  asked  the  boy,  thinking  of  a  lecture 
which  he  had  given  a  few  weeks  before  in  a 
crowded  parish  room;  how  he  himself  had 
answered  the  question — What  is  Christian 
Science  ? — to  the  convulsive  amusement  of  his 
audience.  He  had  dipped  into  a  book — the 
text-book  of  Christian  Science — made  copious 
extracts  and  so  satisfied  himself  that  he 


140  A  Soldier's  Son 

understood  the  subject  sufficiently  to  be  able 
to  warn  people  against  the  teachings  of 
Christian  Science. 

Mrs.  Burton  was  watching  for  his  return. 
She  was  anxious  for  news  of  the  boy,  fearing 
the  early  message  which  had  been  sent  for 
the  doctor  must  mean  that  he  was  worse. 
By  her  side,  in  the  garden,  seated  in  a  little 
wheel-chair,  was  her  only  child,  a  girl  of  ten, 
who  after  a  fall  downstairs  when  she  was 
five  years  old,  causing  an  injury  to  her  spine, 
had  lost  the  use  of  her  legs.  There  seemed 
no  hope  of  her  ever  being  able  to  walk  again, 
since  all  the  doctors  who  had  seen  her  had 
not  been  able  to  do  anything  for  her. 

"How  is  the  boy?"  asked  Mrs.  Burton,  as 
the  doctor  entered  the  garden  in  front  of  the 
house. 

"He  is  well,"  was  the  brief  reply. 

"You  don't  mean" — ?  Mrs.  Burton  began 
in  an  alarmed  tone. 

"I  mean  exactly  what  I  say — the  boy  is 
well." 

"But,  dear,  how  can  that  be,  when  he  was 
so  ill  yesterday?" 


A  Soldier's  Son  141 

"I  cannot  tell  you.  He  says  it  is  Christian 
Science.  I  say  it  is  a  miracle." 

"Father,  he  won't  lose  the  use  of  his  legs, 
will  he?"  the  little  girl  asked. 

"No,  Eloise,  I  think  there  will  be  no  such 
effects  from  the  fall,  as  unhappily  there  were 
in  your  case." 

"I  am  glad,  Father,  he  is  such  a  nice,  kind 
boy!" 

The  child  had  grieved,  fearing  that  he 
might  be  crippled  like  herself. 

"Christian  Science  must  be  different  from 
what  you  described  at  the  lecture,  dear. 
Do  you  think  I  might  go  and  see  Carol?  I 
should  like  to  hear  from  him  what  it  is  that 
has  made  him  well  so  quickly.  I  owe  Mrs. 
Mandeville  a  call." 

"Go  and  pay  it,  then.  Perhaps  the  boy 
will  talk  to  you.  He  did  not  seem  to  care 
to  answer  my  questions." 

The  doctor  passed  into  the  house  with  the 
thought  that  he  would  borrow  that  book 
again,  and  see  if  he  could  get  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  subject  himself. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MRS.  BURTON  VISITS  CAROL. 

Shortly  after  the  doctor  left  Carol's  room, 
the  maid  entered  to  say  the  Rector  was 
downstairs.  Could  he  come  up? 

"I  will  speak  with  the  Rector  before  he 
comes  upstairs,"  Mrs.  Mandeville  said,  and 
left  the  room  for  that  purpose. 

The  news  had  reached  the  Rector  that 
Dr.  Burton  had  been  sent  for  early  that 
morning,  and  he  also  surmised  that  the  boy 
must  be  worse.  But  the  servants  had  as- 
sured him  that  such  was  not  the  case  before 
Mrs.  Mandeville  joined  him  in  the  library. 

"What  is  this  I  hear  about  Carol,  Em- 
meline?  He  is  not  worse,  yet  you  sent  for 
Dr.  Burton  before  breakfast.  I  felt  quite 
alarmed." 

"We  could  not  understand  it,  Raymond. 
I  must  confess  to  feeling  afraid  it  was  not 
true.  Carol  is  quite  well.  Dr.  Burton  ad- 
mits it.  He  says  it  is  a  miracle.  Carol  says 
142 


A  Soldier's  Son  143 

it  is  Christian  Science.  Dear  Raymond,  I 
want  to  beg  you  before  you  see  Carol  not  to 
say  anything  to  shake  his  faith.  It  is  so 
beautiful." 

"His  faith  in  what?  In  that  heresy  called 
Christian  Science,  which  is  neither  Science 
nor  Christian?" 

"Oh,  Raymond,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
you  are  mistaken  in  your  judgment.  I  do 
not,  as  I  told  you  before,  quite  understand 
what  Christian  Science  is,  but  this  I  know, 
I  have  never  met  a  character  so  Christ-like 
as  Carol's.  All  day  yesterday  he  lay  in  such 
pain  from  those  terrible  bruises,  and  the 
injury  to  his  spine  and  head,  that  we  could 
not  move  him  in  the  effort  to  ease  his  posi- 
tion without  increasing  the  pain.  To-day  it 
is  all  gone.  What  has  taken  it  away?  He 
says  the  Christ — Truth  has  come  to  him  and 
healed  him.  If  we  believe  Jesus'  words: 
'Lo,  I  am  with  you  always  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world' —  why  should  it  not  be  true  ?  Can- 
not the  spiritual  Christ  say  as  Jesus  so  often 
said,  *  According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you '  ?" 

"Of  course!  But  that  is  not  Christian 
Science." 


144  d  Soldier's  Son 

"Yes,  Raymond,  that  is  what  Carol  seems 
to  have  learned  from  Christian  Science. 
Heaven  to  him  is  not  a  far-off  locality,  it  is 
here — all  around  him,  and  God  is  ever- 
present  Love.  His  one  thought — his  one 
desire  seems  to  be  to  possess  that  Mind  which 
was  also  in  Christ  Jesus.  What  can  you 
say  against  such  teaching?" 

The  Rector  had  evidently  nothing  to  say. 
He  remarked  briefly,  "If  I  may,  I  will  go  up 
and  see  the  boy  now.  I  am  pressed  for 
time." 

"Yes,  Raymond,  he  will  be  pleased  to 
see  you." 

She  let  him  go  alone,  and  did  not  afterwards 
inquire  what  had  passed  between  the  boy  and 
his  uncle. 

Later  in  the  day  Mrs.  Mandeville  took 
Percy  to  Carol's  room.  The  boy  had  begged 
so  frequently  to  be  allowed  to  see  his  cousin. 
"Just  to  tell  him  I  am  sorry,"  he  said. 

Carol  had  forgotten  all  about  it. 

"Sorry  for  what,  dear  Percy?"  he  in- 
quired, when  Percy,  in  faltering  accents, 
asked  to  be  forgiven. 

"Oh,  I  think  I  remember  now,  Percy,    you 


A  Soldier's  Son  145 

said  something  that  was  not  quite  kind,  but 
I  knew  at  the  time  that  you  did  not  mean  it. 
So  why  should  we  remember  any  more  about 
it?" 

"You  are  just  the  bravest  fellow  I  know, 
Carol.  I  have  told  all  the  boys  at  school 
how  you  stood  and  faced  the  bull.  They 
think  a  tremendous  lot  of  you  for  it.  So  it 
won't  matter  when  you  come  with  us  if  you 
can't  play  football  or  cricket.  You  will  be 
the  hero  of  the  school." 

Then  Mrs.  Mandeville  left  the  boys  to- 
gether for  a  little  while.  Percy  was  only  too 
delighted  to  be  able  to  tell  Carol  of  all  that 
was  happening  at  school,  the  matches  that 
had  been  played,  and  those  that  were  to  come 
off  shortly. 

When  Mrs.  Burton  called  that  same  after- 
noon, she  expressed  her  great  desire  to  see 
and  talk  with  Carol.  Mrs.  Mandeville  readily 
assented,  remarking  that  she  felt  sure  Carol 
would  be  delighted  to  see  her.  As  there 
were  other  visitors  present,  she  was  not  able 
to  accompany  her  herself.  A  maid  therefore 
conducted  her  to  Carol's  room.  Nurse  was 
sitting  with  him.  As  Mrs.  Burton  intimated 


146  A  Soldier's  Son 

that  she  had  come  to  have  a  little  talk  with 
Master  Carol,  she  left  the  room. 

"Eloise  sends  her  love  to  you,  dear  Carol. 
She  is  so  happy  to  know  you  are  so  wonder- 
fully better.  We  feared  so  much  that  you, 
too,  might  be  crippled  for  life,  as  she  has  been, 
by  a  fall.  The  spinal  concussion  caused  her 
to  lose  the  use  of  her  legs.  We  have  consulted 
the  first  specialists,  but  they  have  never  been 
able  to  do  anything  for  her.  When  the 
doctor  told  me  this  morning  how  miraculously 
you  have  been  healed,  I  felt  I  must  come  and 
ask  you  to  tell  me  something  about  it.  Tell 
me,  dear  Carol,  what  is  Christian  Science?" 

The  boy  looked  up,  but  not  at  Mrs.  Burton. 
That  far-away  dreamy  look  came  to  his  eyes, 
which  his  cousins  knew  so  well.  It  was  such 
a  big  question  to  try  to  answer.  It  seemed 
minutes  before  he  spoke.  Then  he  said: 
"I  think  Christian  Science  means  knowledge 
—  a  knowledge  of  God;  and  as  we  gain  this 
knowledge  we  draw  nearer  to  Him.  Cousin 
Alicia  used  to  tell  me  we  are  all  God's  chil- 
dren, but  we  have  wandered  so  far  away  from 
Him.  We  are  prodigals,  dwelling  in  that 
far  country  where  we  are  fed,  like  the  swine, 


A  Soldier's  Son  147 

on  husks.  Christian  Science  just  teaches 
us  the  way  back  to  our  Father's  house; 
and  as  we  find  the  road  and  walk  in  it,  we 
lose  the  evils  that  tormented  us.  Jesus  was 
our  elder  brother  who  never  left  his  Father's 
house.  Athough  he  lived  on  earth,  it  was 
still  his  Father's  house,  because  he  lived  al- 
ways in  the  consciousness  of  good.  And  that 
is  what  we  have  to  try  to  do.  It  seemed 
easier  when  I  was  with  Cousin  Alicia." 

There  was  just  a  note  of  sadness  and  regret 
in  the  boy's  voice. 

"What  a  beautiful  thought,  Carol,  'living 
in  the  consciousness  of  good.'  But,  dear, 
how  can  we  do  it,  with  sickness,  sorrow,  and 
sin,  all  around?  When  I  look  at  my  wee 
girlie,  I  can  never  know  joy  or  happiness; 
her  young  life  to  be  so  cruelly  blighted  through 
the  carelessness  of  a  maid.  Every  child  I 
see  running  about  free  and  happy  is  like  a 
dagger  in  my  heart,  as  I  know  that  she  should 
be  the  same." 

"When  Cousin  Alicia  came  from  America 
after  my  mother's  death,  I  was  very  ill,  and 
the  doctors  said  I  could  never  be  better.  But 
she  knew  that  I  could.  She  said,  'You  are 


148  A  Soldier's  Son 

God's  child,  dear  Carol,  and  all  God's  chil- 
dren are  spiritual,  and  therefore  perfect. 
Awake  from  this  dream  of  suffering  and  pain.  * 
Every  day  she  used  to  talk  to  me,  until  she 
led  me  to  understand  what  it  is  to  live  in 
the  consciousness  of  good,  and  then  I  was 
well." 

"Oh,  Carol,  it  seems  too  wonderful  to  be 
true!  Do  you  think  that  something  might 
be  done  for  my  little  girl?" 

"Why,  of  course.  I  am  sure  if  you  will 
take  her  to  my  home,  Cousin  Alicia  will  teach 
her  as  she  taught  me.  She  is  always  so  happy 
to  teach  people  about  Christian  Science. 
Shall  I  write  and  tell  her  you  will  take  Eloise 
to  her?" 

"Thank  you,  dear  Carol,  but  I  think, 
perhaps,  before  you  write,  I  must  ask  Dr. 
Burton.  If  he  is  willing,  I  will  gladly  take 
my  little  girl  to  Miss  Desmond." 

Mrs.  Burton  did  not  stay  much  longer. 
On  leaving,  she  tenderly  kissed  Carol. 
"Dear  boy,  you  have  given  me  hope.  You 
cannot  think  what  it  has  been  to  a  mother's 
heart  to  be  so  long  hopeless,"  she  said. 

The   little    crippled    Eloise   was    watching 


A  Soldier's  Son  149 

from  her  nursery  window  for  her  mother's 
return.  Mrs.  Burton  went  straight  to  her. 

"Have  you  seen  Carol,  Mother?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  darling,  and  I  have  had  such  a  sweet 
talk  with  him.  He  has  made  me  so  happy. 
I  seem  to  see  you  running  about  like  other 
children." 

"Oh,  Mother,  wouldn't  that  be  lovely! 
And  is  he  really  well?" 

"It  seems  so,  dear.  Mrs.  Mandeville  is 
keeping  him  quietly  in  his  own  room  to-day. 
But  he  seemed  so  well  and  happy.  He  wants 
me  to  take  you  into  Devonshire  to  stay  with 
his  cousin.  He  says  she  will  teach  us  what 
she  has  taught  him — and  then — Oh,  Eloise, 
my  darling,  you,  too,  would  be  well  and 
strong,  no  longer  a  little  crippled  girl." 

"What  is  it,  Mother,  that  he  has  been 
taught?" 

"It  seems  something  so  wonderful  and 
beautiful,  dear.  He  says  that  dwelling  in 
the  consciousness  of  good  is  dwelling  in  our 
Father's  house,  but,  like  the  prodigal  son  in 
the  parable,  we  have  wandered  away  into 
that  far  country  where  all  sorts  of  evils  can 
befall  us.  My  girlie,  we  will  try  to  find  our 


150  A  Soldier's  Son 

way  together  into  this  happy  understanding 
of  good  which  causes  the  fetters  to  fall.  I 
will  speak  to  Father  to-night  and  ask  him 
to  let  me  take  you." 

"Do — do,  please,  Mother." 

Mrs.  Burton  waited  that  evening  until  it 
was  past  the  hour  for  patients  to  call  at  the 
surgery.  Then  she  went  to  her  husband's 
consulting-room. 

The  doctor  was  sitting  at  his  desk,  an  open 
letter  before  him.  His  pen  was  in  his  hand, 
but  he  was  not  writing.  The  answer  to  the 
letter  seemed  to  require  much  thought.  .  It 
was  only  partly  written. 

"Are  you  very  busy,  dear?"  Mrs.  Burton 
said,  softly  twining  one  arm  around  his  neck. 
She  was  almost  nervous.  It  was  a  great  re- 
quest she  was  about  to  proffer.  She  did  not 
quite  know  how  it  would  be  received. 

"Not  particularly,  love,  if  you  want  any- 
thing. What  is  it?" 

"I  want  to  tell  you  I  had  a  beautiful  talk 
with  Carol  this  afternoon,  and  he  is  so  kind 
as  to  ask  me  to  take  Eloise  to  stay  with  his 
cousin  at  his  home  in  Devonshire,  that  she — 
that  she  might  teach  us  what  she  has  taught 


A  Soldier's  Son  151 

him.  You  know,  dear,  we  have  done  every- 
thing we  can — there  is  no  other  hope  for  her." 

"And  you  think  there  may  be  hope  in  this 
— Christian  Science?" 

"I  feel  sure  of  it — since  I  have  seen  Carol." 

The  doctor  smiled.  The  humor  of  the 
situation  struck  him.  He  pointed  to  the 
open  letter  on  his  desk. 

"That  letter,"  he  said,  "is  from  the  Vicar 
of  B —  asking  me  to  give  in  his  Parish  Room 
the  lecture  which  I  gave  at  B — ." 

"Oh!"  There  was  an  accent  of  pain  in  Mrs. 
Burton's  voice.  "You  are  not  going  to?" 

"Why  do  you  object?  The  lecture  was 
well  received,  you  remember." 

"Yes,  but  even  at  the  time  when  the  people 
laughed  and  applauded,  it  seemed  to  hurt  me. 
I  couldn't  help  thinking  if  these  people,  who 
call  themselves  Christian  Scientists,  believe 
so  absolutely  in  the  Christ  healing,  it  was 
what  the  early  Christians  believed,  and  prac- 
tised, and  they  were  persecuted.  When 
Christ  spoke  to  Saul  of  Tarsus,  he  did  not 
say,  'Why  persecutest  thou  my  followers?' 
He  said  'Why  persecutest  thou  me?9 

"So  I  felt  that  night  that  the  laughter  and 


152  A  Soldier's  Son 

ridicule  of  all  in  the  room  were  as  stones 
thrown  not  at  people,  but  at  the  Christ. 
Don't  tell  me,  dear,  that  you  are  going  to 
give  that  lecture  again." 

"I  am  not.  That  boy's  radiant  face  would 
come  between  me  and  any  audience  I  might 
think  to  address.  I  have  commenced  a  let- 
ter to  the  Vicar,  telling  him  I  feel  I  cannot 
lecture  on  the  subject  again." 

"And  I  may  take  Eloise  to  Willmar  Court?" 
"You  may.  Should  she  regain  the  use  of 
her  legs,  as  a  result  of  the  visit,  I  will  espouse 
the  Cause  I  once  derided.  After  witnessing 
Carol's  marvellous  recovery,  it  does  not  seem 
impossible." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HAPPY     THOUGHTS. 

After  Mrs.  Burton  left  Carol,  Edith  came 
and  had  tea  with  him,  and  after  tea  all  his 
cousins  were  allowed  to  visit  him  for  a  little 
time.  They  could  not  understand  how  the 
sadness  and  gloom  in  the  house  had  been 
dispelled.  It  was  like  the  sun  shining  through 
clouds  on  a  rainy  day.  He  was  so  bright  and 
happy,  just  their  own  dear  Carol  again. 
There  was  one  subject  of  which  he  never 
spoke  to  his  cousins;  so  they  could  not  know 
why,  the  day  before,  the  house  was  hushed, 
and  he  could  not  be  seen  because  he  was  so 
ill,  and  to-day  there  seemed  nothing  at  all  the 
matter  with  him. 

When  Mrs.  Mandeville  went  the  round  of 
the  children's  rooms  after  dinner,  she  found 
Carol  waiting  for  her  in  the  old  way,  just  as  if 
there  had  been  no  break,  no  agony  of  sorrow 
and  suspense. 

"I  hoped  to  find  you  asleep,  darling,"  she 

153 


154  d  Soldier's  Son 

said.  "Has  it  been  too  much  excitement 
having  so  many  in  your  room?" 

"Oh,  no,  Auntie.  I  loved  to  see  them  all 
again.  I  have  had  such  happy  thoughts. 
Isn't  it  nice  to  be  kept  awake  by  happy 
thoughts?  Happy  thoughts  are  good 
thoughts,  and  good  thoughts  come  from  God. 
Shall  I  tell  you,  Auntie,  dear,  what  I  have 
been  thinking  about?" 

"Wouldn't  it  be  better  to  tell  me  in  the 
morning,  dearie?  It  is  rather  late  for  a  little 
boy  who  was  an  invalid  only  yesterday  to  be 
kept  awake  even  by  happy  thoughts." 

"I  would  rather  tell  you  to-night,  Auntie. 
You  do  not  quite  understand,  do  you,  that 
when  error  is  cast  out,  it  is  done  with,  and 
we  do  not  need  to  remember  anything 
about  it." 

"Then  tell  me,  love,  what  you  have  been 
thinking  about." 

"  I  began  first  of  all,  Auntie,  thinking  about 
Peter." 

Mrs.  Mandeville's  thoughts  at  once  went 
to  the  stables,  where  one  of  the  horses  was 
named  Peter. 


A  Soldier's  Son  155 

"Peter,  dear?"  Just  a  note  of  surprise 
in  her  voice. 

:'Yes,  Auntie,  when  Jesus  called.  Peter  to 
come  to  him  on  the  water,  at  first  he  was  not 
afraid,  and  he  got  out  of  the  boat  to  go  to 
him.  Then  he  began  to  be  afraid,  and  as 
soon  as  fear  crept  in,  he  began  to  sink. 
Auntie,  I  was  just  like  that.  At  first  I  was 
not  afraid  of  the  bull.  I  knew  God  had 
given  me  dominion,  and  I  was  trying  to  real- 
ize it.  Then  the  moment  I  began  to  be  afraid, 
the  bull  tossed  me.  As  I  was  thinking  of  this 
perhaps  I  fell  asleep,  and  it  was  a  dream. 
But  it  was  so  real.  I  seemed  to  see  Peter 
standing  by  the  bed,  but  he  didn't  look  like 
the  picture  in  the  stained- glass  window, 
and  he  spoke  so  kindly  and  gently.  'Little 
brother,'  he  said,  'you  have  not  learned  to 
trust  the  Master  yet.'  It  was  just  as  if  he 
remembered  there  was  a  time  when  his  faith 
had  failed.  I  wanted  to  ask  him  something, 
but  he  was  not  there,  and  I  was  quite  wide 
awake.  May  it  perhaps  be,  Auntie,  that  as 
Christ  'walks  life's  troubled  angry  sea,'  they 
are  with  him,  those  disciples  who  were  always 
with  Jesus,  especially  Peter,  and  James, 


156  A  Soldier's  Son 

and  John;  and  they  are  working  now,  doing 
his  bidding,  as  they  did  it  in  Galilee,  watch- 
ing over  and  helping  those  who  are  still 
fighting?" 

"It  may  be,  Carol,  we  cannot  tell.  It 
seems  that  events  which  happened  two 
thousand  years  ago  are  to  you  but  as  yester- 
day." 

"Why,  yes,  Auntie;  time  in  God's  kingdom 
is  not  measured  by  years  and  weeks  and 
months.  I  shall  just  love  now  to  think  about 
Peter,  and  know  that  my  faith  will  grow 
stronger,  as  his  did.  There  are  many  people 
who  would  not  have  been  afraid  of  the  bull. 
Cousin  Alicia  told  me  of  a  lady  in  India  who, 
one  day,  came  quite  close  to  a  cobra.  But 
she  was  not  afraid,  and  as  she  stood  quite 
still  and  looked  at  it,  the  cobra  coiled  itself 
into  a  heap  and  went  to  sleep.  Then  she 
told  me  of  a  gentleman  who  was  shooting 
game  in  Africa,  and  once  he  was  in  a  position 
when  he  could  not  fire,  and  a  leopard  was  only 
a  few  yards  from  him,  but  the  animal  did  not 
attack  him,  it  ran  away  into  the  desert.  The 
lady  and  the  gentleman  knew  and  realized 
that  they  had  dominion ;  I  hope  I  shall  under- 


A  Soldier's  Son  157 

stand  it  better  some  day,  and  not  be  afraid 
of  anything." 

:'You  have  been  taught  some  strange 
things,  Carol,  still  they  are  beautiful;  it  seems 
almost  too  beautiful  to  be  true." 

"Oh,  Auntie,  nothing  can  be  too  beautiful 
to  be  true,  because  only  good,  and  good  is 
always  beautiful,  is  real;  evil,  and  evil  is 
always  ugly,  is  unreal." 

"Carol,  darling,  I  wish  I  could  believe  that. 
You  are  leading  me  in  strange  paths.  I 
must  not  let  you  talk  any  more  to-night. 
I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  time  a  little  boy, 
who  has  lost  so  much  sleep  lately,  tried  to 
make  up  for  it." 

But  as  she  bent  over  him  to  kiss  him, 
he  clung  both  arms  around  her  neck,  keeping 
her  a  willing  captive  for  some  minutes  longer. 

"Auntie,  I  am  so  longing  for  Cousin  Alicia's 
letter,"  were  his  last  words  as  she  left  the 
room. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  REASON  OF  THE  DELAY. 

The  next  morning  Carol  rose  at  his  usual 
time,  and  breakfasted  with  his  cousins  in  the 
school-room.  Miss  Markham  looked  at  him 
with  puzzled  eyes,  especially  when  he  told  her 
he  was  quite  ready  to  begin  lessons  again. 
She  could  not  understand  it.  There  seemed 
to  be  some  mystery  connected  with  his 
marvellous  recovery  from  what  everybody 
believed  to  be  serious  injuries.  She  took  the 
opportunity,  when  his  cousins  were  out  of  the 
room,  to  ask  him  quietly,  "What  has  made 
you  well  so  quickly,  Carol?" 

"Ask  Auntie,  please,  Miss  Markham,  I 
am  not  allowed  to  talk  about  it,"  he  replied. 
Miss  Markham's  wonderment  was  consider- 
ably increased,  for  Mrs.  Mandeville  had  only 
told  her,  when  the  boy  first  came  to  the 
Manor,  that  he  had  been  taught  religious 
158 


A  Soldier's  Son  159 

tenets  which  were  altogether  unorthodox. 
She  did  not  then  connect  that  remark  with  the 
boy's  quick  recovery.  He  often  made  re- 
marks which  surprised  her.  Sometimes  she 
pondered  over  a  remark  he  had  made,  and 
found  there  was  more  in  it  than  at  first  had 
appeared.  If  she  attempted  to  draw  him  out 
by  questions,  he  became  strangely  silent  and 
reserved.  Once,  it  was  during  a  history 
lesson,  Carol  exclaimed,  "But  evil  could  have 
no  power,  Miss  Markham,  if  everyone  knew 
that  God — good — governs.  If  we  had  no  be- 
lief in  evil,  evil  could  not  hurt  us." 

Thinking  over  the  words  afterwards,  Miss 
Markham  admitted  to  herself  that  to  acknowl- 
edge the  omnipotence  of  God,  must  deprive 
evil  of  any  power.  But  she  wondered  how  it 
was  Carol  had  come  to  see  it  so  clearly.  She 
could  not,  however,  draw  him  to  talk  any 
more  on  the  subject.  After  breakfast  Mrs. 
Mandeville  came  to  the  school-room  with  the 
longed-for  letter  in  her  hand,  and,  as  permis- 
sion was  readily  given,  Carol  went  to  his  own 
room  to  read  it.  Eagerly  he  broke  open 
the  envelope,  and  read: 


160  A  Soldier's  Son 

"WlLLMAR    COURT, 

SOUTH  DEVON. 
"  My  dear,  dear  Carol, 

"The  telegram  in  answer  to  mine  this  morn- 
ing has  just  arrived.  I  waited  for  it  before 
commencing  my  letter  to  you.  I  rejoice 
for  you,  Truth  has  triumphed,  error  has 
fallen.  When  I  returned  to  the  Court  last 
night,  after  being  absent  since  Saturday 
afternoon,  I  found  telegrams  and  letters 
awaiting  me.  On  learning  that  the  first 
telegram  asking  for  help  for  you  was  more 
than  three  days  old,  I  had  to  fight  error  on 
my  own  account,  before  I  could  fight  it  on 
yours.  How  quick  error  is  to  find  the  weak 
parts  of  our  armor.  My  human  love  for 
you,  darling,  opened  wide  the  portals,  and  a 
crowd  of  wrong  thoughts  rushed  in.  I  found 
myself  wondering  why  it  should  have  so  hap- 
pened that  I  should  be  away,  when  I  seemed 
most  wanted,  and  under  circumstances  which 
made  it  impossible  for  the  telegrams  to  be 
sent  on. 

"Then,  in  this  sudden  tempest  of  doubts 
and  fears  which  had  rushed  upon  me,  came 
the  words,  calm,  sweet,  tender:  'I,  if  I,  be 


A  Soldier's  Son  161 

lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.'  And 
I  knew,  I  was  absolutely  sure,  however  great 
were  the  sense  sufferings,  Carol  had  held 
steadfastly  to  Truth:  the  Christ  was  lifted 
up;  and,  though  he  may  not  know  it,  some 
human  heart  has  been  drawn  nearer  the 
eternal  Truth,  Christ. 

"Then  I  commenced  to  work  for  you,  and 
when  the  roseate  hues  of  early  morning  began 
to  steal  into  the  room,  the  knowledge  came  to 
me  that  there  was  nothing  more  to  fight — 
error  was  overcome.  All  is  well,  even  the 
delay  which  at  first  seemed  altogether  wrong. 
Now  I  will  tell  you  the  reason  of  it.  On 
Saturday  afternoon  I  was  driving  your  pony 
in  the  small  basket  carriage,  which  you  so 
often  used.  (Since  they  cannot  have  their 
little  master,  both  Bob  and  the  pony  think 
the  next  best  thing  is  to  take  me  about.) 
I  am  becoming  well  acquainted  with  all  the 
beautiful  lanes  in  the  neighborhood,  for  I 
frequently  take  these  little  excursions. 

"We  were  three  or  four  miles  from  home, 
when,  in  a  very  narrow  lane,  where  it  was 
impossible  to  pass  another  vehicle,  we  met  a 
farmer,  driving  a  dog-cart.  The  farmer 


1 62  A  Soldier's  Son 

showed  his  reluctance  to  be  the  one  to  back 
out  of  the  lane.  He  accosted  me  with  these 
words:  'Ma'am,  I  am  in  great  haste;  it 
is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.' 

"'Indeed,'  I  said,  'is  it  the  doctor  you  are  in 
haste  to  reach?' 

"'No,'  he  replied,  briefly,  'the  doctor  has 
given  her  up.  It  is  the  lady  that  lives  at 
Willmar  Court  I  want  to  see.' 

"'Then  you  have  not  far  to  go,'  I  said. 
'She  is  here.  What  is  your  trouble?'  Then 
he  told  me  that  his  only  child,  a  girl  of  seven, 
was  believed  to  be  dying.  The  doctor  gave 
no  hope  of  saving  her.  '  It  seems  the  news  of 
your  beautiful  healing  has  spread  through  the 
neighboring  villages,  and  the  grief-stricken 
parents  of  this  little  girl  thought  there  might 
be  hope  for  her.' 

"I  told  the  farmer  I  would  go  with  him, 
and  straightway  sent  Bob  home  with  the 
pony,  bidding  him  to  tell  the  servants  I 
should  return  as  soon  as  possible,  but  not  to 
trouble  if  I  did  not  return  that  night. 

"As  soon  as  we  had  backed  out  of  the  lane, 
the  farmer  drove  furiously,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  we  reached  his  homestead.  I 


A  Soldier's  Son  163 

found  the  belief  of  death  so  strong  surround- 
ing the  child,  that  it  seemed  necessary  to 
remain  there. 

"In  two  days  it  was  overcome,  but  I  stayed 
another  day  to  give  the  wearied  mother  a 
good  rest.  The  farmer  drove  me  home  last 
night,  when  I  found  everyone  sadly  troubled. 
They  had  begun  to  fear  I  was  never  going  to 
return,  and  Bob  could  not  give  them  any 
idea  as  to  who  had  driven  away  with  me. 
The  letters  and  telegrams  from  Mandeville 
naturally  added  to  their  anxiety. 

"Now,  all  is  well:  Good  was  governing — 
Love  leading  all  the  time.  I  cannot  yet 
understand  how  it  was  the  bull  tossed  you. 
Were  you  not  able  to  realize  your  dominion? 
or  was  it  the  mesmerism  of  fear  that  seized 
you?  Mrs.  Mandeville  mentions  in  her 
letter  that  you  stood  between  your  little 
cousins  and  the  bull.  My  dear  boy,  of  course 
you  would!  I  could  not  imagine  your  doing 
otherwise.  Doubtless  the  nurse's  fear  and 
the  cries  of  the  little  girls  affected  you — the 
contagion  of  thought.  Had  you  been  quite 
alone,  I  feel  so  sure  that  you  would  have  been 
able  to  realize  your  God-given  dominion. 


164  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Tell  me  more  when  you  write  (I  am  long- 
ing for  a  letter)  of  the  old  man  and  his  little 
grand  -  daughter.  Work  always  comes  to 
willing  hands  and  loving  hearts,  and  what 
work  is,  or  ever  can  be,  so  beautiful  as  work 
for  the  Master  in  His  Vineyard.  Never 
think  any  service  little.  Merely  carrying 
even  a  cup  of  cold  water  will  in  no  case  lose 
its  reward.  But  the  joy  of  working — of  being 
allowed  to  work — is  sufficient.  We  do  not 
look  to  the  reward. 

"With  loving  thoughts, 

Believe  me  always,  dear  Carol, 
Your  affectionate  cousin, 

ALICIA  DESMOND." 

Before  returning  to  the  school-room,  Carol 
sought  his  aunt  in  her  morning-room.  After 
reading  his  letters,  he  always  took  them  to 
her,  and  asked  her  to  read  them  too.  They 
were  not,  perhaps,  always  as  intelligible  to 
her  as  they  were  to  the  boy,  but  they  never 
failed  to  interest  her.  She  was  conscious  of 
a  growing  desire  to  know  the  writer,  whom 
she  had  never  met.  Later  in  the  day  Carol 
received  another  letter,  delivered  by  hand. 


A  Soldier's  Son  165 

It  was  from  Mrs.  Burton,  joyfully  telling 
him  the  doctor  was  willing  for  her  to  take 
Eloise  into  Devonshire  to  his  cousin. 

He  wrote  immediately  to  Miss  Desmond, 
asking  her  if  she  would  invite  Mrs.  Burton 
and  her  little  daughter  to  the  Court,  explain- 
ing the  reason.  He  knew  the  invitation 
would  not  be  long  in  coming. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
"LIGHT  AT  EVENTIDE." 

On  the  following  Sunday  evening  Carol 
appeared  at  Mr.  Higgs'  cottage  at  the  usual 
time. 

It  seemed  almost  impossible  to  believe 
there  had  been  a  break,  and  that  for  three 
days  he  had  lain,  to  mortal  sense,  between 
life  and  death.  So  entirely  had  the  cloud 
rolled  away,  it  was  difficult  to  realize  it  had 
ever  darkened  the  horizon. 

"I  wasn't  expecting  you,  Master  Carol, 
but  I'm  right  glad  to  see  you.  It  do  seem 
so  wonderful  that  just  this  time  last  Sunday 
all  the  village  was  waiting  for  news  from  the 
Manor,  and  I  was  that  sad  thinking  I'd  never 
have  you  come  to  see  me  again.  The  Rector 
prayed  for  you  in  church.  I  was  there  for 
the  first  time  for  well-nigh  two  years.  'Well, 
well,'  I  said  to  myself,  'if  the  Lord  takes  him, 
His  will  be  done.'  But,  oh,  I  prayed  as  I've 
166 


A  Soldier's  Son  167 

never  prayed  since  we  lost  our  first  child  that 
He  wouldn't." 

;' You  do  not  understand  then  yet  that  death 
can  never  be  God's  will.  Didn't  Jesus  say, 
1 1  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and 
that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly'? 
If  Jesus  came  to  bring  us  life,  does  not  that 
show  that  God  never  sends  death?" 

"Well,  Master  Carol,  as  you  put  it,  maybe 
it  is  so,  but  I'm  an  old  man,  and  it's  what 
I  was  taught  as  a  boy,  and  the  belief's  grown 
up  wi'  me,  and  somehow  I  wouldn't  like  to 
give  up  the  thought.  It's  the  only  thing  that 
makes  the  parting  bearable — to  think  God 
wills  it.  We  put  it  on  the  headstone  where 
we  laid  our  little  girl.  Thy  will  be  done. 
Aye,  I've  stood  and  looked  at  them  words 
many  a  time,  and  they  sort  o*  comforted 
me.  She  was  our  first-born." 

"There  is  another  verse  which  says  'to 
know  God  is  everlasting  life.'  In  everlasting 
life  there  can  be  no  death,  can  there?  Just 
think  of  this:  If  the  sun  were  never  hidden, 
and  you  could  keep  your  eyes  steadfastly 
on  the  light,  you  would  have  no  knowledge 
of  darkness — you  would  not  understand  it 


1 68  A  Soldier's  Son 

or  believe  in  it.  In  the  same  way  when  we 
understand  that  God  is  ALL,  we  must  lose 
the  thought  of  and  belief  in  death.  There  is 
no  death  to  those  that  know  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being  in  God-Life.  Death 
could  not  steal  one  of  God's  ideas — His  chil- 
dren— and  destroy  it.  What  seems  to  die 
is  not  God's  child.  What  you  buried  in  the 
churchyard  was  not  your  little  girl,  and  what 
they  cast  into  the  sea,  was  not  my  father. 
They  are  still  living.  It  is  only  that  we  do 
not  see  them.  You  know  Jesus  says,  4In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.' 
They  have  passed  on  to  another  mansion — 
that  is  all.  My  cousin  has  taught  me  that 
the  mansions  Jesus  spoke  of  are  not  afar  off 
in  a  locality  called  Heaven.  We  are  to-day 
— you  and  I — dwelling  in  one  of  God's  man- 
sions, and  it  is  a  higher  or  a  lower  mansion 
according  as  we  dwell  in  the  consciousness 
of  good.  We  have  to  take  all  the  steps  up 
to  that  special  place  which  Jesus  has  gone  to 
prepare  for  us.  If  we  are  not  ready  for  it, 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  enter  it,  even  if  we  have 
passed  through  the  door  called  death.  We 
have  to  fight  and  overcome  all  that  separates 


A  Soldier's  Son  169 

us  from  God.  Jesus  overcame  everything. 
He  put  sin  and  disease  under  his  feet,  and  we 
have  just  to  follow  in  his  steps,  knowing  that 
he  prepared  the  way,  and  is  helping  us  all  the 
time.  Perhaps  you  did  not  think  when  you 
had  rheumatism  that  it  was  a  shadow  be- 
tween you  and  God,  did  you?  You  thought 
it  was  God's  will  for  you." 

"That's  true,  Master  Carol.  I  just  bowed 
down  to  it,  thinking  God  chose  to  afflict 
me  for  some  special  purpose." 

"I  knew  it  was  not  so,  when  I  tried  to  help 
you.  I  always  saw  you  perfect,  as  God  made 
you,  and  you  know  the  shadow  disappeared. 
When  I  lay  in  bed  a  few  days  ago,  and  couldn't 
move,  the  bruises  seemed  so  real,  and  the  pain 
very  great,  I  couldn't  think  of  them  as 
shadows,  but  my  cousin  was  able  to  do  it 
for  me,  and  all  disappeared.  Neither  my  aunt 
nor  the  doctor  seemed  able  to  believe  it  at 
first,  because  they  do  not  understand.  Won't 
it  be  a  happy  day  when  everyone  understands 
that  Truth  destroys  disease;  and  when  little 
children  have  hip-disease  doctors  won't  hurt 
them  to  try  to  make  them  better,  as  they  did 
me?" 


170  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Did  they  really?" 

"Yes,  and  the  operation  did  not  make  me 
better.  But  we  will  not  talk  about  it.  I 
ought  not  to  remember  anything  about  it. 
It  was  all  error.  Shall  we  have  the  chapter 
again  from  St.  John  which  tells  us  'In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions'?" 

"Aye,  I  mind  that  chapter  well.  The 
words  just  sink  down  into  my  heart,  and  stir 
up  something  there,  and  I've  wanted  to  under- 
stand them  better.  I've  thought  a  lot  about 
it  since  the  last  time  you  talked  to  me.  I 
know  He  is  faithful  who  promised,  the  'works 
that  I  do  shall  he  do  also.'  As  I  said  before, 
I'm  an  old  man,  Master  Carol,  and  I've  been 
looking  for  it  all  my  life.  Why,  I've  asked 
myself,  don't  His  servants  and  ministers 
give  us  the  signs  He  promised?" 

"And  now  what  you  have  been  looking  for 
all  these  years  has  come — the  light  at  even- 
tide," Carol  said  softly,  looking  beyond  the 
old  man  with  eyes  that  seemed  unconscious 
of  the  crimson  of  the  setting  sun,  as  he  caught 
a  glimpse  of  that  marvellous  light  which 
'never  was,  on  land  or  sea' — spiritual  under- 
standing. 


A  Soldier's  Son  171 

:<You  have  been  healed,  and  your  little 
grand-daughter,  and  I,  too,  in  the  way  the 
Master  commanded." 

"Aye,  it's  true,  Master  Carol.  I  feel  like 
saying,  'Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation.'  It  is  His  salvation.  Maybe 
when  you  have  read  me  that  chapter  from  the 
Bible,  you'll  read  me  some  pages  of  the  little 
book  which  seems  to  make  things  clearer  to 
me,  and  helps  me  to  understand  the  Bible 
better." 

"I  am  sorry,  I  may  not,"  Carol  said  regret- 
fully, looking  at  the  little  book  which  lay  be- 
side the  old  man's  Bible.  "My  uncle  has 
taken  my  copy  of  the  book  away  because  he 
did  not  wish  me  to  read  it.  It  would  not  be 
honorable  to  read  from  another  copy.  It 
will  be  given  back  to  me  sometime.  I  do 
not  know  how  or  when.  Auntie  asked  me 
not  to  stay  long  this  evening,  so  I  will  read 
the  chapter  now." 

"My  daughter'll  be  sorry  she  missed  com- 
ing in.  We  didn't  expect  you  to-night, 
Master  Carol.  She's  very  grateful  to  you; 
her  little  girl  seems  quite  well  now.  There's 


172  A  Soldier's  Son 

been  no  return  o'  the  fits.  An'  my  rheu- 
matiz  is  quite  the  talk  o'  th'  village.  What's 
took  it  away?  First  one  and  then  another 
asks.  When  I  tell  'em  th'  Lord's  healed  me 
— well,  well,  they  just  look  at  me,  as  if  they 
thunk  th'  rheumatiz  has  gone  to  my  head  and 
turned  my  brain.  Farmer  Stubbins  says  he's 
coming  in  one  night  to  have  a  talk  with  me, 
for  he's  tried  many  remedies,  but  his  rheu- 
matiz keeps  getting  worse." 

"Give  him  the  little  book  to  read,  or  tell 
him  to  get  one  for  himself,"  Carol  said.  Then 
he  read  again  the  chapter  he  had  once  before 
read.  At  the  end  he  closed  the  book  without 
comment. 

Brightly  wishing  the  old  man  good-night, 
he  left  the  cottage. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

JOYFUL    NEWS    FROM    ELOISE. 

Miss  Desmond  gladly  acceded  to  Carol's 
desire,  and  wrote  to  Mrs.  Burton  at  once  to 
bring  her  little  girl  to  stay  with  her. 

They  left  for  Devonshire  the  following 
week.  A  month  passed  before  Carol  received 
the  promised  letter  from  Eloise.  During  the 
time  Miss  Desmond  wrote  to  him  as  usual, 
but  beyond  mentioning  the  pleasure  it  was  to 
her  to  have  his  friends  staying  with  her,  and 
what  a  dear  interesting  little  girl  she  found 
Eloise,  she  did  not  give  any  details  of  their 
visit.  At  the  end  of  the  month  the  postman 
brought  one  morning  a  delightfully  "fat  en- 
velope" addressed  to  Carol  in  a  round,  child- 
ish hand.  He  knew  at  once  it  was  the  long 
promised  letter  from  Eloise.  There  was 
also  a  shorter  one  enclosed  from  Mrs. 
Burton. 

Carol  read  Eloise's  letter  first. 

173 


174  A  Soldier's  Son 

"WlLLMAR    COURT, 

S.  DEVON. 
"My  dear  Carol, 

"I  did  not  forget  I  had  promised  to  write 
soon  to  you.  Miss  Desmond  seemed  to  wish 
me  not  to  write  just  at  first.  She  said  you 
would  understand.  I  think  she  wanted  every- 
one at  Mandeville  to  forget  for  a  little  while 
all  about  me.  She  called  it  taking  their 
thought  off  me. 

"Now  I  have  so  much  to  tell  you.  I  do 
not  know  how  I  shall  get  it  all  in  one  letter. 
Dear  Carol,  I  am  just  the  very,  very  happiest 
little  girl  in  all  the  world.  I  can  walk.  More 
than  that,  I  can  run.  Isn't  it  lovely — won- 
derful! One  night  I  dreamed  that  I  was 
walking,  and  when  I  awoke  in  the  morning 
the  dream  seemed  so  real,  I  felt  it  must  be 
true.  So  I  just  got  out  of  bed,  and  I  could 
walk.  I  walked  to  Mother's  bedside.  She 
was  so  glad  and  happy.  When  we  saw  dear 
Miss  Desmond  at  breakfast  time,  and  I  wanted 
to  thank  her,  and  tell  her  how  much  I  loved 
her,  she  took  me  to  her  room,  and  pointed  to 
a  portrait  on  the  wall.  Such  a  sweet,  loving 
face,  with  white,  wavy  hair.  'That,  dear 


A  Soldier's  Son  175 

Eloise,'  she  said,  'is  the  portrait  of  the  one 
you  must  love.  I  could  not  have  taken  you 
to  the  Fountain  of  Truth  to  be  healed,  had 
she  not  first  shown  me  the  way.'  And  oh, 
Carol,  I  do  love  dear  Mrs.  Eddy.  How  I 
wish  I  could  tell  her  so! 

"Just  for  a  few  days,  my  legs  were  so  shaky, 
and  I  had  to  keep  sitting  down.  I  only 
walked  about  a  room.  Then  I  was  able  to 
go  downstairs.  At  the  end  of  a  week  Miss 
Desmond  and  Mother  took  me  the  walk  you 
first  took,  and  I  sat  down  to  rest  just  where 
you  rested  on  the  stump  of  the  old  tree.  We 
waited  quite  a  long  time,  hoping  Birdie  would 
come.  And  he  did,  but  he  stayed  only  a 
minute,  chirping — 'So  glad — so  glad.'  (It 
was  just  like  that.)  Then  he  flew  away  as 
if  he  were  in  a  great  hurry,  and  that  was  all 
he  had  time  to  tell  us. 

"Miss  Desmond  said:  'Birdie  is  always 
busy  about  his  Father's  business.'  Mother 
looked  puzzled,  and  I  too.  We  could  not 
understand.  Then  Miss  Desmond  said  to  me, 
'God  is  Birdie's  Father  too,  dear  Eloise. 
Birdie  is  a  spiritual  idea;  he  has  no  life  apart 
from  God.  He  has  his  appointed  work  to  do 


176  A  Soldier's  Son 

in  God's  Kingdom.  All  God's  ideas  reflect 
Him — reflect  Life,  Truth,  Love,  Goodness. 
Perhaps  Birdie's  work  is  just  to  voice  a  note 
of  joy,  of  harmony.' 

"That  made  me  think,  Carol,  if  even  a  little 
bird  has  his  appointed  task,  I,  too,  must  have 
mine — some  work  to  do  for  God.  I  am 
waiting  for  it  to  be  made  plain  to  me.  Now 
I  have  the  desire  to  do  it,  Miss  Desmond 
says,  the  work  is  sure  to  come.  Even  if  it 
is  only  a  very  little  thing  at  first,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  do  it. 

"Dear  Carol,  we  are  so  enjoying  staying 
here,  Mother  and  I.  I  am  so  fond  of  all  your 
pets,  and  feed  them  every  day,  and  talk  to 
them  about  you.  Before  I  could  walk,  Bob 
used  to  take  me  round  the  grounds  in  your 
pony-carriage,  and  he  always  talked  so  much 
of  you,  and  the  time  when  he  used  to  take 
you  about.  He  will  be  so  glad  when  you 
come  home  again.  All  the  servants  like  to 
hear  about  you.  They  love  you  so  much. 
I  have  had  to  tell  them  ever  so  many  times 
about  the  bull,  and  how  you  stood  and  faced 
him,  and  did  not  run  away.  They  are  so 
proud  of  you.  'The  young  Master'  they  call 


A  Soldier's  Son  177 

you.     I  tell  Mother,   Willmar  Court  is   like 
a  little   kingdom,  and  you  the  exiled  prince. 

"Father  is  coming  next  week  to  take  us 
home.  Until  he  sees  me  walking,  I  think  he 
cannot  quite  believe  it.  He  says  he  wants 
to  have  a  long  talk  with  Miss  Desmond. 

"With  many  loving  thoughts,  dear  Carol, 
I  am, 

Your  affectionate  little  friend 

ELOISE  BURTON. 

"P.S.  Mother  has  helped  me  just  a  little 
with  this  letter,  and  now  she  is  writing  to 
you  herself." 


Carol  could  not  wait  to  read  Mrs.  Burton's 
letter  before  giving  the  joyful  news  to  Mrs. 
Mandeville.  With  both  letters  in  his  hand, 
he  ran  to  seek  his  aunt  in  her  morning-room. 

"Auntie,  Auntie!"  he  cried  excitedly — 
"such  news!  Eloise  can  walk — more  than 
that,  she  can  run.  Isn't  it  beautiful?" 

"Really,  Carol?     Is  it  really  true?" 

"Yes,  Auntie,  really.  Will  you  read 
Eloise's  letter?  And  oh,  may  I  tell  my 
cousins?" 


178  A  Soldier's  Son 

"Tell  them  that  Eloise  can  walk?  Why, 
certainly,  dear." 

"But  more  than  that,  Auntie;  they  will 
ask  what  has  made  her  walk,  when  every  one 
believed  she  could  never  walk  again.  Mayn't 
I  tell  them,  Auntie,  Christian  Science  has 
done  what  the  doctors  couldn't  do?" 

"I  will  think,  dear,  what  you  may  tell  them. 
Let  me  see  Eloise's  letter.  Whilst  Mrs. 
Mandeville  read  the  little  girl's  letter,  Carol 
opened  and  read  Mrs.  Burton's. 

"WlLLMAR    COURT, 

S.  DEVON. 
"My  dear  Carol, 

"  Eloise  herself  has  written  the  glad  news  to 
you  that  the  use  of  her  legs  is  perfectly  re- 
stored. My  joyful  gratitude  is  more  than  can 
be  expressed  in  words.  Yet  it  even  seems 
that  the  blessing  of  this  wonderful  physical 
healing  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  knowl- 
edge we  have  gained  of  the  Truth,  which  Jesus 
said  should  make  us  free.  Here,  amidst 
the  lovely  surroundings  of  your  beautiful 
home,  I  have  lost  my  old  concept  of  God,  and 
gained  instead  an  understanding  of  Him, 


A  Soldier's  Son  179 

as   ever-present  Love:    infinite  Life,  Truth, 
Love. 

"It  seemed  so  soon  after  I  was  able  to 
see  and  realize  this  that  my  little  girl  was 
healed.  And  oh,  Carol,  the  kindness  and 
gentleness  with  which  dear  Miss  Desmond  has 
led  us  up  to  this  understanding,  never  letting 
us  for  a  moment  cling  to  her,  pointing  always 
away  from  personality  to  divine  Principle. 
We  must  be  and  are  very  grateful  for  her 
faithful  instruction  and  example,  for  her  life, 
so  consecrated  to  God  that  the  promised  signs 
are  given:  'They  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick, 
and  they  shall  recover.'  I  did  not  at  the  time 
understand  your  own  marvellous  recovery 
from  the  effects  of  the  encounter  with  the 
bull.  I  do  now,  and  I  feel,  dear  boy,  we  owe 
you  intense  gratitude.  It  was  your  stead- 
fast faith  in  the  Christ,  Truth,  which  led  me 
to  seek  spiritual  healing  for  my  little  Eloise. 
The  words  come  to  me:  'I,  if  I  be  lifted  up, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me.'  For  me  the 
Christ  was  lifted  up,  and  I  was  drawn  unto 
Him.  May  my  life  henceforth  so  testify 
that  others  may  in  the  same  manner  be  drawn 
unto  Him. 


i8o  A  Soldier's  Son 

"  Please  convey  my  very  kind  regards  to'Mrs. 
Mandeville.     She  will,  I  know,  rejoice  with  us. 
"Believe  me  always,  dear  Carol, 
Yours  lovingly, 

M.  K.  BURTON." 

"It  is  indeed  wonderful  and  beautiful, 
Carol,  "  Mrs.  Mandeville  said  as  she  returned 
the  little  girl's  letter.  I  sincerely  rejoice  with 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burton.  I  know  what  a  sad 
trial  Eloise's  paralysis  has  been  to  them." 

Then  Mrs.  Mandeville  became  aware  that 
Carol  was  looking  up  with  anxiously  expect- 
ant eyes,  awaiting  an  answer  to  a  question. 

"Dear  boy,"  she  said,  "if  you  told  your 
cousins  that  Christian  Science  has  made 
Eloise  to  walk,  they  would  not  understand 
what  you  meant.  Indeed,  I  do  not  quite 
understand,  myself — yet.  I  will  come  to  the 
school-room  with  you,  and  perhaps  we  can 
explain  to  them  that  Eloise  has  been  healed 
by  faith  in  the  power  of  God." 

With  that  Carol  had  to  be  satisfied,  though 
he  longed  to  explain  that  it  was  not  faith 
alone,  but  faith  with  understanding:  the 
understanding  of  God  as  All-in-all,  Omnipo- 
tent, Omnipresent  Love. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    RETURN    OF    ELOISE. 

When,  the  following  week,  Dr.  Burton 
brought  his  wife  and  daughter  home,  both  he 
and  Mrs.  Burton  gratefully  spoke  of  the 
Science  which  had  healed  her.  The  little  girl, 
in  her  wheel-chair,  had  been  so  familiar  an 
object  of  compassion  to  the  villagers  that, 
when  they  saw  her  walking,  they  wanted  to 
know  what  had  brought  it  about.  Then  Mr. 
Higgs  triumphantly  held  up  a  little  book. 

"It's  all  in  here,  bless  the  Lord,"  he  said. 
"What's  become  o'  my  rheumatiz,  you  ask. 
I  don't  know  what's  become  o'  it.  I  only 
know  it's  gone.  What  becomes  o'  the  dark- 
ness when  you  let  the  sunshine  in?  I'm 
getting  to  understand  it  better  every  day. 
There's  no  need  to  trouble  what's  become 
o'  error  when  you  let  the  Truth  in." 

Then  he  told  them  of  his  little  grand- 
daughter, and  how  she,  too,  had  lost  some- 
thing. There  was  no  need  to  say  what.  All 

181 


1 82  A  Soldier's  Son 

the  village  had  known  of  the  little  girl's  sad 
affliction.  Many  listened  to  him,  and  looked 
curiously  at  the  little  book,  but  only  a  few 
believed.  It  was  easier  to  attribute  the  heal- 
ing to  nature,  or  natural  causes,  than  to  spirit- 
ual laws.  The  return  of  Eloise  was  a  great 
joy  to  Carol.  She  was  able  to  tell  him  much 
that  he  wanted  to  know.  He  so  seldom  spoke 
of  his  home,  Mrs.  Mandeville  would  have  been 
surprised  to  know  how  often  he  had  to  fight 
against  a  sick  longing  for  the  dear  scenes  of 
his  childhood,  and  the  cousin-friend  who  was 
now  the  representative  of  both  father  and 
mother. 

The  Burtons  arrived  home  too  late  for 
Carol  to  meet  them  at  the  station,  as  he  in- 
tended. 

The  next  morning  he  was  an  early  visitor 
at  their  house.  Eloise  had  only  just  finished 
breakfast. 

"Oh,  Carol!" 

"Oh,  Eloise!" 

In  a  moment  the  two  children  were  locked 
in  each  other's  arms.  Between  them  was  a 
bond  of  sympathy  which  neither  could  have 
defined,  stronger,  more  tender,  than  the 


A  Soldier's  Son  183 

tie  of  human  relationship.  Then,  joyfully, 
Eloise  began  to  tell  him  all  about  her  visit. 
She  had  so  many  messages  to  deliver,  and 
Carol  had  so  many  questions  to  ask,  it  was 
lunch  time  before  they  were  half  through. 
Dr.  Burton  came  in  from  his  rounds.  He 
told  them  that  he  had  called  at  the  Manor, 
and  had  gained  Mrs.  Mandeville's  permission 
to  keep  Carol  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 

"Thank  you  so  much,  Dr.  Burton,  I  am 
very  pleased  to  stay,"  Carol  said  in  answer. 

Dr.  Burton  laid  both  hands  on  the  boy's 
shoulders. 

"My  boy,"  he  said  gravely,  "the  pleasure 
is  ours.  We  owe  you  a  debt  of  gratitude  we 
can  never  hope  to  repay." 

The  words  brought  a  flush  of  pleasure  to 
Carol's  face.  He  could  not  think  that  he  had 
done  anything  to  deserve  such  gratitude. 

After  lunch,  when  she  found  the  trunks 
had  been  unpacked,  Eloise  showed  Carol  a 
little  book,  Miss  Desmond's  parting  gift  to 
her.  It  was  exactly  like  the  book  that  had 
been  given  to  Carol.  He  took  it  from  Eloise, 
as  she  held  it  out  to  him,  but  immediately 
laid  it  down  on  the  table.  "  Shall  we  do  part 


184  A  Soldier's  Son 

of  the  Lesson  together,  Carol  ?  It  will  be  so 
nice.  I  have  done  part  of  it  every  morning 
with  Miss  Desmond." 

"Yes,  I  used  to,"  Carol  said,  and  Eloise 
detected  a  note  of  sadness  in  his  voice. 

"Do  you  study  it  alone  now,  Carol?"  she 
said. 

"No,  I  never  study  it  at  all,  Eloise.  I 
have  not  a  book.  The  book  Cousin  Alicia 
gave  me  Uncle  Raymond  has." 

"Then  we  can  do  it  together  every  week 
from  my  book,  cannot  we  ? " 

"No,  Eloise,  Uncle  Raymond  took  my 
book  away  because  he  did  not  wish  me  to 
study  it.  Until  he  gives  me  permission,  I 
cannot  read  it  with  you." 

"I  am  so  sorry,  Carol.  The  Rector  always 
speaks  so  kindly  to  me  when  he  sees  me,  I 
should  not  mind  asking  him  to  let  you  have  it 
again — shall  I?  Perhaps  he  does  not  know 
how  much  you  want  it." 

"Auntie  asked  him  when  I  was  ill,  and  he 
would  not.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  any 
use  for  you  to  ask  him,  dear  Eloise." 

"And  wouldn't  you  like  to  have  my  book 
sometimes,  Carol?" 


A  Soldier's  Son  185 

"Not  without  Uncle  Raymond's  permission. 
He  is  my  guardian.  I  must  be  obedient  to 
his  wishes.  Don't  look  sorry,  Eloise.  It  is 
all  right.  We  can  only  take  one  step  at  a 
time.  It  is  sure  to  be  given  back  to  me  when 
I  am  ready  to  take  another  step." 

"Will  my  book  be  taken  away  from  me? 
Father  and  Mother  are  both  pleased  for  me 
to  have  it. " 

"Why,  no,  Eloise.  The  lesson  I  need  to 
learn  is  perhaps  not  the  lesson  you  need. 
Everyone  who  comes  into  Science  has  some- 
thing to  overcome — some  particular  lesson 
to  master,  Cousin  Alicia  said.  Mine  is  obedi- 
ence, cheerful,  willing  obedience,  and  every 
victory  of  Truth  over  error  makes  us  stronger." 

Then  with  the  gaiete  de  cceur  of  childhood, 
the  subject  was  dismissed.  Eloise  quickly 
proposed  going  to  the  garden  where  they 
spent  the  afternoon,  Carol  teaching  her  to 
play  croquet.  Peals  of  merry  laughter 
reached  Mrs.  Burton  as  she  sat  at  an  open 
French  window,  causing  her  heart  anew  to 
overflow  with  loving  gratitude  to  the  One 
who  had  "sent  His  word,"  and  her  child  was 
made  whole. 


1 86  A  Soldier's  Son 

When  Mrs.  Mandeville  paid  her  usual  visit 
to  Carol's  room  that  night,  she  found  him 
with  wide-open  eyes,  a  flush  of  excitement  on 
his  cheeks.  "I  have  had  such  a  happy  day, 
Auntie,"  he  said.  "I  do  love  Eloise  so  much, 
and  she  loves  me,  too"  (Mrs.  Mandeville 
smiled),  "and  we  both  love  Cousin  Alicia. 
Since  I  came  to  bed  I  have  been  trying  to 
think  what  love  is,  and  it  seems  it  is  like  light, 
it  can  never  be  described  in  words.  The 
blind  boy  in  the  poem  asked, 

'What  is  that  thing  called  light, 
Which  I  can  ne'er  enjoy?' 

No  one  could  tell  him  to  make  him  under- 
stand, could  they?  So  no  one  could  make 
anyone  understand  in  words  what  love  is. 
Just  as  light  comes  from  the  sun,  and  we  can 
only  see  it  with  our  eyes,  so  love  comes  from 
God,  who  is  Love,  and  we  can  only  be  con- 
scious of  it  in  our  hearts.  Isn't  it  St.  John, 
Auntie,  who  says  we  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life  when  we  love  the  brethren?  Then 
just  as  eyes  which  cannot  see  the  light  are 
called  blind,  mustn't  it  be  that  hearts  which 
do  not  love  are  dead?" 


A  Soldier's  Son  187 

"It  seems  to  follow  naturally  your  line  of 
reasoning,  Carol,  though  I  cannot  say  the 
thought  ever  occurred  to  me  before.  There 
is  one  marked  trait  in  all  little  children,  they 
are  so  full  of  love." 

"Yes,  Auntie,  especially  darling  Rosebud. 
She  loves  everyone.  Do  you  remember  when 
I  was  ill,  and  you  lifted  her  on  the  bed,  how 
she  said:  *I  do  'ove  'ou  so  welly  much, 
TaroP?" 

"Yes,  dear,  I  remember.  Rosebud  often 
makes  me  think  of  a  line  of  one  of  the  poets: 

'For  a  smile  of  God,  thou  art.' ' 

"That  is  just  beautiful,  Auntie,  and  it 
explains  why  little  children  know  what  love 
is,  before  they  know  anything  else,  before 
they  even  walk  or  talk." 

"Yes,  Carol,  all  great  poets  seem  able  to 
grasp  some  momentous  truth,  and  give  it  to 
the  world  in  a  beautiful  line  or  verse." 

"Cousin  Alicia  has  given  Eloise  a  copy  of 
Science  and  Health  just  like  the  one  she  gave 
me,  Auntie.  Eloise  showed  it  to  me,  and 
offered  to  lend  it  to  me.  But  it  would  not 
be  right  for  me  to  read  it  until  Uncle  Ray- 


1 88  A  Soldier's  Son 

mond  gives  me  permission,  would  it  ?  Do  you 
think  he  may  when  he  knows  of  Eloise's 
healing?" 

"He  does  know,  dear.  I  was  talking  to 
him  last  night  about  it.  He  attributes  it  to 
the  change  into  Devonshire,  or — or  some  other 
reason.  I  think  he  suggested  hypnotism." 

"But  they  took  her  to  Germany  some  time 
ago,  and  that  change  made  no  difference,  nor 
the  great  German  doctor  she  was  under." 

"That  is  so,  dear,  still  Uncle  Raymond  will 
not  listen.  I  think  it  will  be  unwise  to  talk 
any  more  on  the  subject  to  him." 

"Do  you  think  then,  Auntie,  he  will  not 
be  willing  for  me  to  have  the  book  again 
until — until  I  am  a  man?" 

"I  fear  that  may  be  so,  dear." 

"Oh,  Auntie!"  ' 

For  a  moment  the  grave  eyes  filled  with 
tears.  The  next  instant  they  were  dashed 
away.  "What  am  I  thinking  of?  Error, 
error,  begone!  Love  can  find  a  way,  and 
Love  will  find  a  way.  It  is  quite  all  right, 
Auntie,"  clasping  both  arms  around  her 
neck. 


A  Soldier's  Son  189 

"Just  wait  and  see!  If  we  are  not  stand- 
ing 'porter  at  the  door  of  thought'  every 
moment,  what  a  lot  of  wrong  thoughts  come 
trooping  in." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A   LONG -DELAYED    LETTER. 

That  was  an  eventful  week  to  Carol.  Three 
or  four  days  after  the  return  of  Mrs.  Burton 
and  Eloise  it  was  his  turn  to  open  the  post- 
bag.  The  daily  task  of  receiving  the  post-bag, 
unlocking  it,  sorting,  and  then  distributing 
the  contents,  was  always  such  a  pleasure  to 
the  elder  children  that  they  had  agreed  to 
take  it  by  turns. 

There  seemed  an  unusually  full  bag  that 
morning  when  he  emptied  the  contents  on 
the  hall  table.  He  collected  into  a  little  pile 
all  the  letters  for  the  servants'  hall,  for 
the  school-room,  and  for  Mrs.  Mandeville. 
Colonel  Mandeville  was  away  with  his  regi- 
ment. Quite  at  the  last  he  discovered  two 
envelopes  bearing  the  small,  neat  handwrit- 
ing which  always  called  forth  an  exclamation 
of  pleasure. 

"Two   letters   this    morning   from    Cousin 
Alicia,  one  for  Auntie   and  one  for  me ! " 
190 


A  Soldier's  Son 


191 


But  he  faithfully  finished  his  task,  and 
delivered  the  letters  to  their  respective  owners 
before  opening  his  own  letter. 

Mrs.  Mandeville  frequently  breakfasted 
with  the  children  when  Colonel  Mandeville 
was  away  and  there  were  no  visitors  staying 
in  the  house.  Carol  found  her  in  the  school- 
room. 

Breakfast  had  commenced.  "You  have 
had  a  big  delivery  this  morning,  Mr.  Post- 
man, have  you  not?"  she  said. 

"Yes,  Auntie,  nearly  everyone  has  had 
more  than  one  letter,  and  here  are  four  for 
you,  three  for  Miss  Markham,  one  for  Percy, 
one  for  Edith,  and  one  for  me  from  Cousin 
Alicia.  One  of  your  letters,  too,  Auntie,  is 
from  Cousin  Alicia,  and  it  is  quite  a  fat  one. 
Mine  is  quite  thin.  May  I  open  it,  Auntie?" 

"Certainly,  dear,  I  am  sure  Miss  Markham 
will  allow  you.  We  all  know  how  little  people 
are  impatient  to  read  their  letters." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  laid  three  of  her  letters 
beside  her  plate.  The  one  bearing  the  Devon- 
shire post-mark  she  held  in  her  hand,  and 
presently  drew  the  contents  from  the  envelope. 

Her  face  grew  very  white,   her  hand  trem- 


192  A  Soldier's  Son 

bled  as  she  saw  Miss  Desmond's  letter  en- 
closed another.  Her  eyes,  suffused  with  tears, 
fell  on  dear,  familiar  writing. 

Was  it  a  message  from  the  grave — from  that 
watery  grave  where  the  mortal  remains  of  the 
brother  still  so  dear  to  her  had  been  cast? 

Carol  meanwhile  was  devouring  his  letter, 
oblivious  of  everything  else.  He  read : 

"WlLLMAR     COURT, 

S.  DEVON. 
"  My  dear  Carol, 

"  Something  so  wonderful  and  beautiful  has 
happened.  Yet  I  should  not  perhaps  use 
the  word  'wonderful,'  since  nothing  can  be 
lost  when  Mind  governs  and  controls.  The 
letter  which  your  dear  father  wrote  me  just 
before  his  death  has  at  last  reached  me. 

"Evidently  through  a  mistake  at  the  sort- 
ing office  it  was  slipped  into  the  American  mail- 
bag  at  Gibraltar  instead  of  the  English.  My 
name  and  address  are  almost  stamped  out, 
it  has  been  to  so  many  places  in  the  United 
States  of  America  and  was  afterwards  sent 
on  to  Canada,  where  it  has  also  visited  many 
post-offices,  before  some  postmaster  or  post- 


A  Soldier's  Son  193 

mistress  remembered  that  S.  Devon  is  part 
of  an  English  county. 

"A  letter  so  important  for  your  future, 
dear,  could  not  be  lost.  I  am  sending  it  for 
Mrs.  Mandeville  to  read,  as  it  is  necessary 
for  her  and  also  your  Uncle  Raymond  to  know 
the  contents.  They  will,  I  am  sure,  observe 
their  brother's  last  wishes;  and  one  is,  that 
no  hindrance  or  impediment  shall  be  put  in 
the  way  of  your  studying  the  Science  which 
has  healed  you.  I  am  to  buy  a  new  copy  of 
Science  and  Health,  and  write  in  it:  'To 
Carol — from  Father.  You  see,  dear,  Love 
has  found  a  way,  and  just  the  most  beautiful 
way  of  restoring  to  you  the  book  you  seemed 
to  have  lost,  for  a  time  at  least. 

"Dearly  as  you  have  valued  the  book  be- 
fore, it  will  have  an  added  value  with  the 
knowledge  that  it  comes  to  you  expressly  by 
your  dear  father's  desire.  Mrs.  Mandeville 
will,  no  doubt,  let  you  read  (or  read  to  you) 
the  letter  before  returning  it  to  me.  You 
will  rejoice  to  learn  how  much  you  were  in 
your  father's  thoughts  at  the  last.  I  have 
ordered  a  copy  of  the  book.  You  will  re- 
ceive it  in  a  very  short  time.  I  know  how 


194  A  Soldier's  Son 

glad  you  will  be  to  be   able  to  study  the 
Lesson -Sermons  again.     How  nice  it  will  be 
for  you  and  Eloise  to  do  them  sometimes  to- 
gether!    Dear  little  girl!     Give    her    many 
loving    thoughts    from    me.     We    miss    her 
very    much.     Bob's    affections    seem    about 
equally  divided  between    his   young   master 
and  'the  little  lady'  as  he  calls  her. 
"Always  in  thought  and  deed,  dear  Carol, 
Your  loving  cousin, 

ALICIA  DESMOND." 

Very  quietly  Carol  went  to  the  back  of  his 
aunt's  chair,  and  slipping  an  arm  around  her 
neck  whispered  softly  in  her  ear: 

"It's  all  right,  Auntie.  I  knew  that  Love 
would  find  a  way,  but  I  didn't  think  it  would 
be  quite  so  soon,  and  such  a  beautiful  way. 
It  is  all  in  Father's  letter." 

Mrs.  Mandeville  had  laid  her  letters  down 
unread.  She  could  not  disappoint  the  chil- 
dren, who  loved  her  to  breakfast  with  them, 
by  taking  them  to  her  own  room,  and  she 
wanted  to  be  alone  when  she  read  them.  As 
soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  she  left  the  school- 


A  Soldier's  Son  195 

room.  An  hour  later  Carol  received  a  message 
that  she  wanted  him  to  go  to  her. 

"You  have  been  crying,  Auntie,"  he  said, 
as  he  entered  the  room. 

"Yes,  dear,  this  letter  from  your  father,  and 
my  dear  brother,  has  been  a  joy  and  a  sorrow 
to  me,  bringing  back  so  vividly  the  remem- 
brance of  him.  You  will  like  to  read  it." 

She  gave  the  letter  to  Carol,  and  he  at  once 
sat  down  beside  her,  and  read  it. 

"My  dear  Alicia, 

"The  fiat  has  gone  forth!  They  give  me 
neither  weeks  nor  days:  a  few  hours  only. 
The  sea  has  been  very  rough  the  past  three 
days.  A  partly  healed  wound  has  reopened: 
the  hemorrhage  is  internal.  They  cannot 
stop  it.  I  think  of  you  and  my  boy,  and  that 
Science  which  stanched  his  running  wounds, 
and  I  wish  I  knew  something  of  it.  I  put  it 
off,  like  one  of  old,  to  a  more  convenient 
season.  The  little  book  you  gave  me  I  left 
with  some  poor  fellows  in  the  hospital,  in- 
tending to  get  another  copy  when  I  reached 
England. 

"Much  of  what  you  told  me  comes  back, 


196  A  Soldier's  Son 

but  it  is  not  enough.  I  cannot  realize  it 
sufficiently.  I  have  absolute  faith  that  if 
I  could  reach  England,  or  even  cable  to  you, 
the  verdict  would  be  reversed.  Ah,  well!  a 
greater  man  than  I  is  supposed  to  have  said: 

*A  day  less  or  more,  at  sea  or  ashore, 
We  die,  does  it  matter  when?' 

Somehow,  it  does  seem  to  matter  now.  Life 
— even  this  life — has  possibilities  which  I 
have  failed  to  grasp.  With  you  to  help  me, 
it  seems  I  should  have  gained  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  eternal  verities.  A  haze — a  mist 
is  creeping  over  my  senses.  What  I  have  to 
write  I  must  write  quickly. 

"  I  think  you  know  by  a  deed  of  settlement, 
executed  before  I  left  for  South  Africa,  in  the 
event  of  my  death,  my  brother  Raymond,  and 
my  dear  sister  Emmeline,  become  Carol's 
guardians.  There  is  no  time  now  to  alter 
that  arrangement  in  any  way,  even  if  I  wished. 
It  will  be  good  for  the  boy  to  be  with  his 
cousins.  He  has  seen  too  little  of  other  chil- 
dren, and  Emmeline,  I  know,  will  be  a  mother 
to  him.  Both  she  and  Raymond  will  respect 
my  last  wishes,  I  am  sure.  Therefore,  I  want 


A  Soldier's  Son  197 

them  to  know  it  is  my  desire  for  Carol  to 
spend  three  months  of  every  year  with  you  at 
his  own  home,  that  you  may  instruct  him  in 
that  knowledge  of  God  which  has  healed  him. 
It  is  recorded  that  once  ten  were  cleansed, 
and  nine  went  thankless  away.  He  must 
not  belong  to  the  nine. 

"I  have  explained  to  Colonel  Mandeville 
my  earnest  desire  that  you  may  be  able  to 
live  at  the  Court,  keeping  on  all  the  old 
servants  until  Carol  is  of  age.  The  last  time 
I  saw  my  brother  Raymond,  the  subject  of 
Christian  Science  was  mentioned,  and  from 
the  remarks  he  made,  his  bitterly  antagonistic 
views  of  it,  I  greatly  fear  that  under  his  guard- 
ianship Carol  may  not  be  allowed  to  continue 
the  study.  Will  you  purchase  for  me  a  copy 
of  the  text-book,  Science  and  Health,  and 
write  in  it: 

'To  Carol:   from  Father.' 

No  one  will  take  from  the  boy  his  dying 
father's  last  gift,  and  my  wishes  regarding 
it  will  I  know,  be  paramount  with  him. 
He  will  like  to  know  that  my  one  regret  now 
is  that  I  did  not  myself  study  it  when  I  had 
the  opportunity. 


198  A  Soldier's  Son 

"I  have  faced  death  before.  I  am  facing 
it  again,  as  a  soldier,  and,  I  trust,  as  a  Chris- 
tian. Somewhere  it  is  written  '  Greater  love 
hath  no  man' —  You  know  the  rest.  Per- 
haps it  will  count,  though  it  may  not  have 
been  love  so  much  as  duty  prompted  the 
action  which  is  costing  me  my  life. 

"I  would  write  to  Carol,  and  to  Emmeline. 
I  cannot.  The  pen  slips  from  my  hand." 

•  *••*•• 

The  concluding  sentence  and  the  signature 
were  almost  illegible.  Mrs.  Mandeville  took 
Carol  in  her  arms,  and  they  wept  together. 

"It  is  so  cruel  to  think  he  might  have  been 
spared  to  us,"  she  sobbed. 

"Yes,  Auntie;  he  would  have  been,"  Carol 
replied  with  simple  faith. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A    JOYFUL    SURPRISE. 

In  less  than  a  week  a  small  parcel  arrived 
by  post  addressed  to  Carol.  He  knew  before 
he  opened  it  that  it  contained  the  little  book 
which  he  had  so  longed  for,  and  which  would 
be,  if  possible,  even  dearer  to  him,  henceforth, 
from  the  circumstances  under  which  he  re- 
gained it.  He  took  the  little  parcel  to  Mrs. 
Mandeville's  room  after  breakfast,  and  opened 
it  there.  As  he  drew  the  small  volume  from 
its  cardboard  case,  he  held  it  up  to  show  her. 
Then,  opening  it,  he  exclaimed  in  a  tone  of 
great  surprise,  mingled  with  joy: 

"Auntie,  it  is  in  dear  Father's  own  hand- 
writing ! 

'To  Carol:   from  Father/  " 

"How  can  it  be?" 

Then,  as  they  examined  the  writing,  they 
saw  that  Miss  Desmond  had  cut  the  words 

199 


2OO  A  Soldier's  Son 

from  her  letter.  So  neatly  had  the  foreign 
paper  been  gummed  in,  it  was  not  at  first 
noticeable. 

"Was  it  not  lovely  of  Cousin  Alicia  to  think 
of  it,  Auntie?" 

"It  was,  indeed,  dear.  You  will  always 
realize  now  that  it  is  your  father's  gift." 

"Yes,  Auntie;  my  earthly  father's  and  my 
heavenly  Father's,  too.  I  was  thinking  this 
morning  of  that  lovely  verse  in  Isaiah :  '  Before 
they  call  I  will  answer:  and  while  they  are 
yet  speaking  I  will  hear.'  And  I  knew  that 
Love  had  answered  before  I  called.  Before 
I  knew  my  need,  it  was  met.  I  am  glad  the 
letter  was  delayed  so  long,  because  I  have 
learned  so  much.  'Every  trial  of  our  faith 
in  God  makes  us  stronger,'  Mrs.  Eddy  says. 
It  did  seem  at  first  as  if  I  should  have  to  wait 
years  for  the  book,  didn't  it?  I  am  glad  I 
was  so  sure  that  Love  could  and  would  find 
a  way." 

As  the  boy  spoke,  the  Rector  walked  into 
the  room.  In  a  momentary  impulse  Carol 
seized  the  little  book  which  lay  on  the  table, 
and  held  it  tightly.  A  crimson  flush  suffused 
his  face.  The  next  instant  he  looked  up  at 


A  Soldier's  Son  201 

his  uncle  with  fearless  eyes,  and  held  out  the 
book  to  him,  saying,  "Uncle  Raymond, 
Cousin  Alicia  has  sent  me  the  little  book 
Father  asked  her  to  get  for  me,  and  see — isn't 
it  beautiful? — 'To  Carol:  from  Father/  is 
in  Father's  own  handwriting." 

The  Rector  took  the  book,  examined  the 
inscription,  but  made  no  remark. 

"Father  did  not  want  me  to  belong  to  the 
nine.  You  would  not  like  me  to  either, 
would  you,  Uncle  Raymond?" 

"To  the  nine,  boy? — What  do  you  mean?" 

"You  remember,  Uncle  Raymond,  when 
Jesus  once  healed  ten  lepers,  nine  went  thank- 
less away.  I  have  been  healed,  and  I  must 
acknowledge  it  at  all  times,  else  I  should  be 
as  one  of  them." 

A  frown  gathered  on  the  Rector's  face. 

"Never  speak  to  me,  Carol,  of  your  healing 
in  the  same  breath  with  the  healings  of 
Jesus." 

The  boy  looked  sorely  pained.  For  an 
instant  he  was  silent.  In  that  instant  he 
asked: 

"Father-Mother  God,  lead  me." 

Then  he  said: 


2O2  A  Soldier's  Son 

"May  I  ask  you  a  question,  Uncle  Ray- 
mond?" 

"Certainly,  Carol;  if  it  is  something  you 
want  to  know." 

"It  is  something  I  often  think  about, 
Uncle.  Are  there  any  *  shepherds  in  Israel' 
now?  Can  you  tell  me?" 

"Why,  of  course,  Carol;  Israel  typifies  the 
Christian  world,  and  God's  ministers  are  His 
shepherds." 

"Yes,  Uncle,  that  was  what  I  thought.  Is 
God  not  angry  now  with  the  shepherds?  I 
often  read  the  34th  chapter  of  Ezekiel.  God 
was  very  angry  with  the  shepherds  of  that 
time.  He  said,  'Woe  be  to  the  shepherds, 
because  they  had  not  healed  that  which  was 
sick,  nor  strengthened  that  which  was  dis- 
eased, nor  bound  up  that  which  was  broken, 
neither  had  they  sought  out  that  which  was 
lost.'" 

"There  have  been  times  in  history,  Carol, 
when  God's  ministers — His  shepherds — have 
been  able  to  heal  the  sick,  but  for  generations 
the  healing  power  has  been  withheld. 

"Yes,  Uncle,  I  understand  that.  For  many 
centuries  before  Jesus  came  the  healing  power 


A  Soldier's  Son  203 

had  been  lost.  He  brought  it  back,  and 
taught  his  disciples  how  to  heal  the  sick. 
Then  at  the  end  of  only  three  centuries  it 
was  lost;  and  again  after  many  centuries  God 
has  sent  a  messenger  to  bring  it  back,  but 
not  everyone  will  listen  to  the  message." 

The  boy  spoke  reflectively,  as  one  thinking 
aloud,  not  addressing  either  his  uncle  or  his 
aunt. 

"Raymond,"  said  Mrs.  Mandeville  quickly 
(she  noted  the  growing  anger  on  the  Rector's 
face),  "Carol  has  a  way  of  thinking  about 
things  he  reads  in  the  Bible.  His  thoughts 
have  often  helped  me.  He  does  not  mean 
to — to  reproach  you.  Will  you  tell  me,  dear 
Raymond,  have  you  ever  read  this  book 
which  you  condemn  so  strongly?" 

"I  have  not  read  it,  Emmeline.  One  does 
not  need  to  read  Mrs.  Eddy's  books  to  con- 
demn them.  The  press  criticisms  and  extracts 
I  have  read  were  quite  enough  for  me.  Since 
Carol's  father  wished  him  to  have  a  copy  of 
the  book,  I  cannot  keep  it  from  him.  Other- 
wise I  should,  most  certainly.  I  can  only 
pray  that  he  may  ultimately  see  the  error 
of  its  teaching." 


204  A  Soldier's  Son 

"The  fruit  is  so  good,"  Mrs.  Mandeville 
said  softly.  "I  can  only  judge  by  that,  until 
I  have  studied  the  book  myself,  which  I  in- 
tend to  do.  I  think,  Carol,  darling,  you  must 
run  back  to  the  school-room  now,  or  you  will 
be  late  for  lessons.  Leave  your  little  book 
with  me.  You  know  it  will  be  quite  safe, 
and  come  to  me  after  school." 

After  the  boy  had  left  the  room  Mrs. 
Mandeville  turned  to  the  Rector. 

"Now  I  want  to  ask  you  a  question,  if  I 
may,  Raymond,  may  I?" 

"Why,  of  course,  Emmeline,  you  know  per- 
fectly well  I  shall  be  happy  to  answer  any 
question  you  wish  to  put  to  me — if  I  can." 

"It  is  this,  Raymond:  the  Apostle  bids  us, 
1  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus.'  How  would  you  define  the 
'Mind'  simply,  that  I  may  grasp  it?" 

The  Rector's  memory  went  back  to  a  Sun- 
day morning  some  months  before  when  he 
had  preached  what  he  considered  a  very 
eloquent  sermon  from  that  verse  in  Philip- 
pians.  Had  his  sister  forgotten  it? 

"Do  you  forget,  Emmeline,  that  I  preached 
from  that  text  not  so  very  long  ago?  I  took 


A  Soldier's  Son  205 

as  the  keynote  of  my  sermon,  humility — 
the  humility  of  Jesus.  From  the  context 
that  was  undoubtedly  what  Saint  Paul 


meant.' 


"Yes,  Raymond,  I  remember  the  sermon 
perfectly;  but  I  cannot  feel  that  to  possess 
humility,  even  in  a  superlative  degree,  would 
be  to  possess,  as  the  Apostle  commands,  the 
'Mind'  of  Christ.  Carol  was  thinking  out 
this  subject,  in  the  way  he  has  of  thinking 
about  verses  in  the  Bible,  and  the  thought  he 
gave  me  seems  nearer  to  it.  He  could  see 
only  love.  The  mind  that  was  in  Christ  was 
love.  Now,  Raymond,  if  we,  at  this  moment, 
possessed  hearts  full  of  love  we  could  not 
criticise  or  condemn  anyone  or  any  sect. 
We  could  not  hold  up  creeds  or  dogmas,  and 
say,  'It  is  necessary  to  believe  this  or  that 
because  it  is  a  canon  of  the  Church.'  We 
should  just  know  that  we  and  they  had 
passed  from  death  unto  life  when  we  love 
the  brethren,  and  all  are  brethren  who  look 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  an  elder  brother." 

"It  seems  to  me,  Emmeline,  that  even 
before  reading  the  book  you  have  imbibed 
some  of  its  mischievous  statements.  Remem- 


206  A  Soldier's  Son 

her,  it  teaches  a  religion  of  negation.  Accord- 
ing to  Christian  Science  we  have  no  Heavenly 
Father,  no  personal  God;  nothing  but  a 
divine  Principle,  an  eternal  existence,  to 
worship." 

"Oh,  Raymond,  you  do  make  a  mistake. 
How  can  you  infer  that  if  you  have  not 
studied  the  book?" 

"My  authority,  Emmeline,  for  the  state- 
ment, is  Dr.  Hanson.  He  wrote  a  pamphlet 
on  Christian  Science,  issued  by  the  Religious 
Tract  Society." 

"It  seems  strange,  Raymond,  that  a  man  of 
Dr.  Hanson's  eminence  should  write,  and 
the  Religious  Tract  Society  should  publish, 
a  statement  so  misleading, — a  statement  which 
a  boy  of  Carol's  years  could  easily  con- 
fute. Carol  prays  to,  and  speaks  of  his 
Heavenly  Father  in  a  way  which,  I  grieve  to 
say,  my  own  children  never  do.  Only  a  few 
minutes  before  you  entered  the  room,  he  said 
that  this  little  book  was  a  gift  not  only  from 
his  earthly  father  but  from  his  Heavenly 
Father,  too.  So  how  can  there  be  no 
Heavenly  Father  to  a  Christian  Scientist? 
It  is  true  he  speaks  more  frequently  of  Him 


A  Soldier's  Son  207 

as  Divine  Love;  and  it  seems  to  me  he  has  a 
more  comprehensive  idea  of  God  than  I  have 
myself,  for  the  thought  has  often  presented 
itself  to  me,  how  can  we,  as  the  Scriptures 
say,  'live,  move  and  have  our  being'  in  Him, 
if  God  is  a  person,  according  to  our  idea  of 
personality?  The  idea  which  Carol  has  given 
me  of  God  as  infinite  Love,  filling  the  universe 
like  light,  makes  that  verse  more  intelligible." 

"A  discussion  such  as  this,  Emmeline,  can- 
not be  productive  of  any  good.  I  will  send 
you  that  little  pamphlet  I  mentioned." 

"Thank  you,  Raymond.  I  will  read  it 
after  I  have  read  Science  and  Health." 

The  Rector  then  changed  the  conversation, 
and  spoke  of  the  object  of  his  visit  to  the 
Manor  that  morning. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A    LITTLE    SERVICE. 

On  the  following  Sunday  evening  Carol 
started  at  the  usual  time  for  Mr.  Higgs' 
cottage,  carrying  with  him  the  little,  much- 
valued  book  and  with  it  the  current  Quarterly 
which  Miss  Desmond  had  also  sent  him. 
His  surprise  was  great,  on  arriving  at  the 
cottage,  to  find  Mrs.  Burton  and  Eloise  there. 
They  knew  the  prohibition  was  removed,  and 
Carol  was  free  to  read  and  study  Science  and 
Health. 

"We  thought  you  would  come,  Carol," 
Eloise  exclaimed.  "We  wanted  to  hear  you 
read  the  Lesson-Sermon.  It  will  be  quite  a 
little  service,  won't  it?" 

"Yes,  dear  Carol;  we  thought  we  should 
like  to  join  you  this  evening,"  Mrs.  Burton 
said.  "We  are  only  the  'two  or  three  gath- 
ered together,'  but  we  are  all  of  one  mind. 
So  it  will  be  a  little  service,  as  Eloise  says." 
208 


A  Soldier's  Son  209 

Presently  Mr.  Higgs'  daughter  and  his 
little  grand-daughter  came  in. 

It  was  arranged  for  Mrs.  Burton  to  read  the 
Bible  verses,  and  for  Carol  to  read  the  quota- 
tions from  Science  and  Health.  At  the  close 
of  the  Lesson-Sermon  Carol  and  Eloise  sang 
together,  from  the  Christian  Science  Hymnal, 
the  hymn  which  both  knew  and  loved, — 

"Shepherd,  show  me  how  to  go." 

The  beauty  of  the  words,  and  the  young 
voices  blending  in  perfect  harmony,  brought 
tears  of  emotion  to  the  old  man's  eyes. 

"Aye,  ma'am,"  he  said  to  Mrs.  Burton 
afterwards,  "who  but  the  Shepherd  himself, 
is  leading  us  into  those  green  pastures  where 
the  fetters  that  bound  us  are  loosed?  There's 
a  many  things  I  can't  pretend  to  understand, 
and  the  old  beliefs  grip  hard,  but  I  just  hold 
on,  and  know  it  must  be  the  Truth  which  the 
Master  promised  should  make  us  free.  It's 
the  tree  that  is  known  by  its  fruits.  I'm 
sorry  Rector's  so  set  up  against  it.  But 
there,  it  was  the  priests  and  scribes  who 
persecuted  the  Master  himself.  Seems  to 


2io  A  Soldier's  Son 

me  it  would  not  be  the  Truth  if  the  world 
received  it  gladly." 

"I  believe  you  are  right  in  thinking  that, 
Mr.  Higgs.  In  whatever  period  of  the  world's 
history  Truth  has  been  recognized,  and  dem- 
onstrated, its  adherents  were  always  perse- 
cuted and  stoned.  Jesus  reminded  his  per- 
secutors that  they  stoned  the  prophets  which 
were  before  him." 

:' Yes,  ma'am,  I  know  it  is  the  glorious  Truth 
which  has  loosed  my  rheumatiz,  and  made  me 
free,  and  I  am  just  ashamed  to  confess  to  you 
and  Master  Carol  that  just  lately  thoughts  I 
can't  get  rid  of  come  tormenting  me.  In  this 
way:  I  go  sometimes  to  church,  but  I  feel  no 
pleasure  in  the  service.  It  has  lost  its  hold 
o'  me.  Then  I  think  o*  Father  and  Mother, 
o'  blessed  memory.  They  lived  and  died  with 
no  thought  o'  beyond  what  the  Rector 
could  give  them.  It  sort  o'  troubles  me  to 
think  I  am  going  away  from  what  they  trusted 
to.  The  Rector  then  was  an  old  man.  Why, 
ma'am,  if  ever  a  saint  o'  God  walked  this 
earth,  he  was  one.  If  he  passed  down  the 
village  street,  you'd  see  all  the  children  run 
to  him,  clustering  round  him.  When  he 


A  Soldier's  Son 


211 


looked  at  you,  it  didn't  seem  to  need  any 
words:  it  was  just  as  if  he  said,  'God  bless 
you.'  His  smile  was  a  blessing.  So  I  just 
ask  myself,  Why  wasn't  the  sick  healed  when 
he  prayed  for  them,  if  it  was  right  and  God's 
will  for  them  to  be  healed?  Surely,  he  was 
a  servant  of  God." 

"I  propounded  a  similar  question,  Mr. 
Higgs,  to  the  lady  I  have  been  staying  with 
in  Devonshire,  Carol's  cousin,  Miss  Desmond. 
It  has  been  my  great  privilege  to  know  many 
saintly  characters,  whose  lives  testified  to 
their  faith.  My  own  mother  was  such  a 
one.  Yet,  for  many  years,  she  was  a  great 
sufferer.  I  asked  Miss  Desmond  why  such 
loving  faith  in  God  and  Jesus  the  Christ, 
had  not  always  brought  physical  healing. 
What  we  call  the  orthodox  church,  also  Non- 
conformity, has  nurtured  souls  for  heaven. 
We  cannot,  therefore,  condemn  its  teaching. 
Miss  Desmond  said  it  is  not  for  us  to  judge 
or  to  criticise  either  individuals  or  other 
churches.  We  all,  individually  and  collec- 
tively, can  only  grasp  the  truth  as  far  as  we 
apprehend  it,  and  we  must  not  harbor  a 
troubled  thought  that  in  becoming  Christian 


212  A  Soldier's  Son 

Scientists  we  are  leaving  any  church  to  which 
we  once  belonged.  We  are  simply  moving 
forward — stepping  upward  to  a  higher  plat- 
form. It  is  the  law  of  progression.  A  child 
at  school  does  not  regret  being  moved  to  a 
higher  class.  Neither  have  we  anything  to 
regret,  even  if  we  entirely  sever  our  connec- 
tion with  the  church  of  our  childhood.  Even 
now,  for  the  most  advanced  Christian  Scien- 
tists there  is  yet  a  higher  platform  to  be 
reached,  since  Mrs.  Eddy  says,  in  Science  and 
Health^  'All  of  Truth  is  not  understood.' 
All  we  have  to  do  at  the  present  is  to  live  up 
to — to  demonstrate,  the  highest  that  we 
know.  You  in  your  walk  of  life,  I  in  mine; 
and  these  dear  children,  who,  spiritually, 
have  touched  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment  and 
have  been  healed,  in  theirs." 

"Thank  you,  ma'am,  I'll  try  to  think  of  it, 
as  you've  kindly  explained  it.  There's  an- 
other old  belief  I  can't  see  clearly  to  get  rid 
o'  yet,  though  Master  Carol  tried  to  make  me 
see  it's  wrong,  and  that  is  'Thy  will  be  done,' 
on  the  tombstones  in  the  churchyard.  I  can 
see  that  sin  and  disease  can  never  be  God's 


A  Soldier's  Son  213 

will;  but  death  may  sometimes  be  a  sort  o* 
messenger  from  God  to  call  us  home." 

Mrs.  Burton  smiled. 

"Yes;  many  poets  have  eulogized  death 
as  a  'bright  messenger/  But  in  the  light 
of  Christian  Science  we  know  it  cannot  be: 
evil  can  never  under  any  circumstance  change 
into  good — an  enemy — the  last  enemy — into 
a  friend.  Think  for  one  moment  how  Jesus 
taught  us  to  pray  'Thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven.9  Then  ask  yourself:  Is 
death  God's  will  in  heaven?  If  not,  then  it 
cannot  be  on  earth.  I  quite  see  now  why 
many  petitions  have  failed  to  bring  an  an- 
swer. The  pleading  lips  have  besought  God 
to  reverse  'His  decree,'  the  decree  that  never 
was  His.  We  learned  that,  Eloise,  darling,  did 
we  not,  in  Devonshire?" 

"Yes,  Mother;  and  when  we  quite  under- 
stood why  my  lameness  was  never  God's 
will  for  me,  I  lost  it." 

"  So  the  world,  Mr.  Higgs,  must  change  its 
old  belief,  and  realize  that  death  is  an  enemy 
which  inevitably  will  one  day  be  destroyed. 
In  God's  spiritual  Kingdom,  sin,  disease,  and 
death  find  no  place.  Now  I  think  we  must 


214  A  Soldier's  Son 

all  bid  you  good-night,  or  it  will  be  dark  be- 
fore Carol  reaches  the  Manor.  The  evenings 
draw  in  so  quickly,  now.  We  will  walk  part 
of  the  way  with  you,  Carol,"  Mrs.  Burton 
said  as  they  left  the  cottage.  They  had  not 
gone  very  far  when  they  met  Mrs.  Mande- 
ville. 

"Auntie,"  Carol  exclaimed  joyfully,  "were 
you  coming  to  meet  me?" 

"Yes,  dear.  I  found  you  had  not  returned. 
As  I  did  not  quite  like  your  coming  alone 
through  the  park,  I  came  to  meet  you." 

After  a  little  conversation  with  Mrs.  Burton 
and  Eloise,  Mrs.  Mandeville  and  Carol 
walked  home  together,  Carol  clinging  affec- 
tionately to  his  aunt's  arm. 

"It  is  nice  to  have  you  to  walk  home  with 
me,  Auntie;  but  I  wish  you  would  never 
have  a  thought  of  fear  for  me." 

"I'll  try  not  to  another  time,  darling.  As 
I  walked  along  I  remembered  something, 
Carol.  Since  that  day  when  you  came  to  my 
room  I  have  never  had  one  of  my  old  head- 
aches. They  used  to  be  so  painfully  frequent. 
Did  you  charm  them  away?" 

"No,  Auntie;    but  I   knew  you   had   not 


A  Soldier's  Son  215 

learned  how  to  'stand  porter  at  the  door  of 
thought.'  So  I  just  stood  there  for  you; 
and  error  cannot  creep  back  when  the  sword 
of  Truth  is  raised  against  it." 

Mrs.  Mandeville's  only  answer  was  to  stoop 
and  kiss  the  boy's  upturned  face.  The  words, 
so  simple,  grave,  and  sweet,  had  gone  straight 
to  her  heart. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  calendar  of  months  named  December, 
and  before  it,  excited,  expectant  little  people 
stood  daily,  counting  first  the  weeks,  then 
the  days  to  that  one  day  of  all  the  year  which 
the  children  love  best. 

Carol  had  to  listen  again  and  again  to  all 
the  wonderful  and  mysterious  things  which 
always  happened  at  the  Manor  on  Christmas 
Eve  and  Christmas  Day.  Price  lists  and 
illustrated  catalogues  were  the  only  books  in 
requisition  after  lessons  were  over.  The  elder 
children  wondered  how  they  could  have 
bought  their  Christmas  presents  if  there  were 
no  parcel  post.  Carol  was  especially  the 
helper  and  confederate  of  the  three  little  girls 
in  the  nursery.  He  assisted  them  in  choosing 
their  "surprises,"  wrote  the  letters,  and  en- 
closed the  postal  orders;  and  certainly,  from 
the  marvellous  list  of  things  they  were  able 
to  purchase,  their  little  accumulated  heap 
216 


A  Soldier 's  Son  217 

of  pennies  must,  in  some  magic  way,  have 
changed  into  sovereigns  in  his  hands.  The 
joyful  excitement  of  the  three  little  girls, 
when  the  parcels  arrived,  gave  Carol  the 
greatest  pleasure  he  had  ever  known.  Only 
Nurse  was  allowed  to  be  present  when  the 
parcels  were  opened,  and  she  promised  to 
lock  them  securely  away  where  no  one  could 
catch  a  glimpse  until  they  were  brought  out 
on  Christmas  eve. 

It  wanted  only  one  week  to  Christmas  day, 
when  Rosebud  came  to  the  school-room  one 
morning,  saying:  "Mover  wants  'ou,  Tarol." 

Carol  went  at  once  to  his  aunt's  room.  She 
was  sitting  with  an  open  letter  in  her  hand,  a 
rather  graver  than  usual  expression  on  her 
face.  " Carol,  dear,"  she  said,  "for  some  little 
time  I  have  been  thinking  I  ought  to  let  you 
go  home  for  Christmas.  It  seems  to  me  it 
is  what  your  dear  father  would  wish;  but  I 
could  not  let  you  take  the  long  journey  alone 
and  there  seemed  no  other  way  until  this 
morning.  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from 
a  dear  old  friend  in  which  she  mentions  that 
she  will  be  travelling  to  Exeter  in  two  days' 
time.  So  I  could  take  you  to  London  to 


2i8  A  Soldier's  Son 

meet  her  there,  and  you  could  travel  with  her 
to  Exeter,  where  Miss  Desmond  might  meet 
you.  I  do  not  like  to  part  with  you,  even  for 
a  month  or  six  weeks,  my  *  little  porter  at  the 
door  of  thought.' ' 

"Auntie,  it  won't  make  any  difference  if 
I  am  here,  or  in  Devonshire.  I  can  still  bar 
the  door  to  error." 

"Yes,  dear;  I  believe  you  can.  It  is  really 
not  that  only.  I  am  thinking  we  shall  all 
miss  you  so.  You  seem  to  be  everyone's 
confederate  for  their  Christmas  surprises. 
Would  you  rather  go,  or  stay,  dear?" 

"I  should  be  happy  to  stay  here,  or  happy 
to  go  home  for  Christmas,  Auntie." 

"Yes;  I  think  you  would,  dear.  So  we 
must  consider  other  people.  Miss  Desmond, 
I  know,  would  rejoice  to  have  you,  and  it 
seems  the  right  of  both  tenants  and  servants 
to  have  the  ' little  master'  amongst  them  at 
Christmas.  So  I  have  decided  it  will  be  right 
to  let  you  go." 

But  when  this  decision  was  made  known  in 
the  school-room  and  nursery  there  were  great 
lamentations.  No  one  had  given  a  thought 
to  the  possibility  of  Carol  not  being  with 


A  Soldier's  Son  219 

them  for  the  Christmas  festivities;  and  Mrs. 
Mandeville  was  besought  again  and  again 
not  to  let  Carol  go  home  before  Christmas. 

But,  having  well  considered  the  matter,  she 
was  firm.  A  telegram  was  at  once  despatched 
to  Miss  Desmond  apprising  her  of  the  ar- 
rangement. The  answer  that  quickly  came 
satisfied  Mrs.  Mandeville  that  she  had  been 
led  to  make  a  right  decision.  Brief  but  ex- 
pressive was  Miss  Desmond's  wire:  "Great 
rejoicings  on  receipt  of  news.  Will  gladly 
meet  Carol  at  Exeter." 

There  was  yet  another  little  person  to 
whom  the  news  was  not  joyful.  Eloise's  lips 
quivered  and  her  blue  eyes  filled  with  tears 
when  she  heard.  Carol  was  so  much  to  her, 
and  she  to  him.  She  thought  of  him  as  a 
brother;  and  a  sister  of  his  own  name  could 
not  have  been  more  tenderly  loved  by  the 
boy.  The  bond  between  them  was  closer 
and  dearer  than  that  of  human  relationship. 

"  It  will  be  only  just  at  first,  Eloise,  that  we 
shall  seem  to  be  far  apart.  Then  you  will  be 
able  to  realize  there  is  no  distance  in  Mind. 
At  first,  when  I  came  here,  I  seemed  to  be  so 
far  away  from  Cousin  Alicia;  but  I  never  feel 


220  A  Soldier's  Son 

that  now.  I  just  know  her  thought  is  with 
me,  and  thought  is  the  only  real.  It  will  be 
lovely  to  hear  her  voice  again,  and  to  feel  my 
hand  clasped  in  hers,  but  still  that  won't 
make  her  very  own  self  nearer  to  me." 

"I  do  not  quite  understand — yet,  Carol," 
Eloise  answered  a  little  sadly.  Then  she 
had  some  news  to  give  him.  Early  in  the 
New  Year  the  Burtons  were  going  to  live  in 
London.  True  to  his  promise,  Dr.  Burton 
was  giving  up  his  medical  practice,  and  was 
going  to  join  that  little  band  of  men  and 
women  whose  lives  are  consecrated  to  the 
work  of  destroying  the  many  manifestations 
of  sin  and  disease,  in  the  way  the  Master 
taught. 

"And,  when  you  come  back  to  the  Manor, 
Carol,  we  shall  not  be  here." 

Eloise  in  one  sentence  regretfully  summed 
up  the  situation. 

"I  shall  miss  you,  dear  Eloise.  But  you 
will  write  to  me,  and  I  shall  write  very  often 
to  you,  and  when  I  go  home  in  the  summer, 
perhaps  Mrs.  Burton  will  let  you  come,  too. 
Then  Cousin  Alicia  will  be  happy  to  have 
both  her  children  in  Science  with  her." 


A  Soldier's  Son  221 

"That  will  be  lovely,  Carol!  I  am  sure 
Mother  will  like  me  to  visit  Miss  Desmond 
again.  It  seems  a  long  time  to  look  forward 
to,  but  time  really  passes  very  quickly. 
Sometimes  the  days  are  not  long  enough  for 
all  I  want  to  do.  I  am  to  go  to  school  when 
we  live  in  London.  All  the  beautiful  things 
I  have  longed  for  are  coming  to  me.  Carol, 
I  do  wish  every  little  girl  and  every  little 
boy  knew  how  to  ask  Divine  Love  for  what 
they  want.  When  I  am  older  that  is  the 
work  I  want  to  do, — to  teach  other  children 
as  Miss  Desmond  taught  me." 

"And  I,  too,  Eloise.  Love  is  so  near,  but 
we  didn't  know  it  till  we  learned  it  in  Science, 
did  we?" 

"No,  Carol;  I  didn't  know  it,  when  I  used 
to  sit  all  day  in  my  little  wheel-chair,  longing 
to  walk  like  other  children.  It  was  like  living 
in  a  dark  room  until  some  one  came  and 
opened  the  shutters  to  let  the  sunlight  in. 
The  sunlight  was  there  all  the  time,  but  I 
did  not  know  it.  I  was  God's  perfect  child 
all  the  time,  but  I  believed  I  was  lame,  until 
Miss  Desmond  taught  me  the  Truth." 

"When  I  go  to  bed,  Eloise,  thoughts  come 


222  A  Soldier '5  Son 

to  me.  I  tell  them  to  Auntie  sometimes,  but 
not  to  any  one  else.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  I 
was  thinking  last  night?" 

"Please,  Carol,  I  should  like  to  know." 
"I  began  first  by  thinking  if  any  one  asked 
me,  where  is  heaven,  I  should  answer:  Heaven 
is  where  God  is.  Then  I  remembered,  God  is 
everywhere.  There  is  no  place  where  God  is 
not.  Then  I  knew  that  everywhere  must  be 
heaven,  and  we  have  only  to  open  our  eyes, 
and  just  as  much  as  we  can  see  of  good — 
God — just  that  far  we  shall  have  entered 
heaven.  So  it  won't  matter,  Eloise,  if  you 
are  in  London,  and  I  am  in  Devonshire,  if 
we  are  both  looking  steadfastly  all  the  time 
to  see  only  good  around  us,  we  shall  both  be 
entering  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  There  is 
only  one  gate — a  golden  gate — into  that 
Kingdom,  and  '  Christ  in  divine  Science  shows 
us  the  way." 


The  little  country  station  seemed  to  be 
quite  full  of  people  when  the  train  that  was 
to  carry  Mrs.  Mandeville  and  Carol  to  Lon- 
don drew  up  at  the  platform.  The  hour  they 


A  Soldier's  Son  223 

were  to  leave  had  become  known  in  the  vil- 
lage, and,  besides  all  his  cousins,  their  nurses 
and  Miss  Markham,  Mr.  Higgs,  his  daughter 
and  grand-daughter,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burton, 
and  Eloise  were  there.  At  the  last  moment 
the  Rector  hurriedly  stalked  in. 

"Almost  too  late,  dear  Raymond,"  Mrs. 
Mandeville  said  as  he  greeted  them. 

"So,  Carol,  I  learn  you  have  succeeded  in 
planting  Christian  Science  in  this  village." 

The  boy  looked  up  with  his  quiet,  fearless 
eyes. 

"Not  I,  Uncle  Raymond!" 

"Who  then?" 

The  boy's  head  was  bowed  as  he  reverently 
answered:  "Christ.  I  am  happy,  Uncle  Ray- 
mond, if  I  have  been  a  little  channel  for  Truth. 
I  could  do  nothing  myself." 

Carol  met  the  grave  look  on  the  Rector's 
face  with  his  bright  smile. 

"You  are  glad,  are  you  not,  Uncle  Ray- 
mond, that  Mr.  Higgs  and  his  little  grand- 
daughter, and  dear  Eloise — I,  too — have  found 
the  Christ,  and  have  been  healed?" 

The  engine  gave  a  shrill  whistle.  Mrs. 
Mandeville  drew  the  boy  farther  into  the 


224  -^  Soldier's  Son 

carriage;  a  porter  closed  the  door  as  the 
train  began  to  move;  the  question  was  un- 
answered. Mr.  Higgs  waved  his  hat,  saying 
fervently,  "God  bless  'ee,  Master  Carol; 
and  bring  you  back  to  us  soon." 

Eloise  ran  along  the  platform,  holding 
Rosebud  by  the  hand,  wafting  kisses  to  be 
carried  to  Miss  Desmond.  When  the  train 
was  out  of  sight  and  she  returned  to  join  the 
others,  she  saw  the  Rector  was  watching  her 
with  the  kindly  smile  his  face  used  to  wear 
in  the  days  when  she  was  not  able  to  run 
about.  Clingingly  clasping  his  arm,  looking 
up  to  him  in  her  winning  way,  and  remember- 
ing the  question  which  to  Carol  had  been  un- 
answered, she  said:  "You  are  glad,  are  you 
not,  Rector,  that  I  can  run  about,  and  that 
I  have  been  taught  the  Truth  that  makes  us 
free?" 

"Yes,  little  girl,  I  am  very  glad.  Perhaps 
I  have  been  mistaken  in  my  judgment.  Tell 
me,  Eloise,  what  is  this  Truth  of  which  you 
speak?" 

Eloise  hesitated  a  moment;  then,  looking 
up  beyond  the  Rector  into  the  broad  blue 
heavens,  she  said:  "It  is  just  knowing  that 


A  Soldier's  Son  225 

God  is  All,  and  there  is  nothing  beside.  All 
the  real  God  made;  whatever  He  did  not 
make  is  shadow.  When  I  quite  understood 
that  God  could  not  make  an  imperfect  thing 
— that  He  never,  never  made  a  lame  little  girl 
— the  shadow  disappeared,  and  I  could  walk." 

The  Rector  turned  to  Mr.  Higgs  who  was 
standing  near.  "  Is  that  what  my  nephew  has 
been  teaching  you,  Higgs?" 

"Yes,  sir;  but  I've  been  slower  to  grasp  it. 
Seems  to  me  the  Truth  is  very  simple,  but  we 
need  the  childlike  mind  to  take  it  in." 

"Maybe  you  are  right,  Higgs — maybe  you 
are  right.  '  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child  .  .  .  shall  not 
enter  therein.'  The  Master's  words." 

Thoughtfully,  with  bent  head  and  down- 
cast eyes,  meditating  deeply,  the  Rector 
walked  back  to  the  Rectory.  Words  very 
familiar  came  to  him  with  a  different  mean- 
ing: "Ye  shall  know  the  Truth,  and  the  Truth 
shall  make  you  free;"  and  with  the  words 
came  a  desire  that  was  prayer:  "Lord,  teach 
me  this  Truth.  Grant  me  the  childlike  mind." 

"Carol,  I  have  been  thinking  of  something," 


226  A  Soldier's  Son 

Mrs.  Mandeville  said,  as  the  train  bore  them 
along. 

"Should  you  like  to  know  of  what  I  have 
been  thinking?" 

"Please,  dear  Auntie;  I  should  very  much 
like  to  know." 

"Well,  dear,  I  have  been  thinking  if  it 
should  occur  to  the  young  Master  of  Willmar 
Court  to  send  Rosebud  and  me  an  invitation 
whilst  he  is  at  home,  we  should  accept  it." 

"Oh,  Auntie,  what  a  lovely  thought!  To 
have  you  and  Rosebud,  and  Cousin  Alicia, 
all  together!" 

"I  want  Miss  Desmond,  Carol,  to  teach 
me  some  of  the  things  she  has  taught  you." 

There  was  a  long  silence.  The  boy's  heart 
was  too  full  for  words.  Then  he  said: 
"Auntie,  I  know  now  how  the  little  bird  felt 
when  the  King  opened  the  cage  door,  and  he 
sang  and  sang  for  joy.  My  heart  is  singing 
to  my  King.  I  wonder  if — perhaps — He  will 
say,  some  missing  note  has  come  into  Carol's 
song." 

"Indeed,  my  darling,  I  think  so." 

He  nestled  closely  beside  her.  Looking 
down  she  saw  on  his  face  the  reflection  of  a 


A  Soldier's  Son  227 

great  joy — a  great  peace;  and  she  knew  that 
he  had  just  crept  into  Love's  arms. 

"He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the 
Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty.  .  .  .  He  shall  cover  thee  with  His 
feathers,  and  under  His  wings  shalt  thou  trust. 
His  Truth  shall  be  thy  shield  and  buckler." 

PSALM  91. 


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